Ten Years and Two Missing Kids

Ten years ago yesterday, my future husband passed me a note in our high school library. We had been talking for about a month, and our friends were desperately trying to set us up. And come to think about it, he didn't really pass me a note. I was sitting at a table with my friends, he walked up and handed it to me (folded all cute, oragami style of course), said nothing, and walked away.

It was the basic, high school style note from a guy putting out feelers and trying to figure out if you felt similar before he took the plunge and actually "asked you out." Like a test drive, if you will. But on the back was a question with two boxes:

Would you go out with me? Check yes or no.

I, smiling like a fool because he finally pseudo-worked up the courage to ask me, quickly checked the box yes. I walked across the library where he sat with his group of friends and dropped it on the table, and kept on walking. Later on, he said he was surprised that I checked yes because "it was only a joke, and I had a real plan on how I wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend." I say you don't practice purposing to someone, so it was the real deal.

And here we are, ten years later. Seven years of marriage under our belt. Two kids. Four addresses since we got married. Three surgeries (one for me, two for Jose). Weddings. Funerals. Picnics. Pets. Fights. Makeups. Valleys, hills, mountain tops, rocky ground, high roads, and everything in between.

We decided that we deserved a grown up night out by ourselves after all this time. Originally we wanted to go away for a night, but it just wasn't feasible after paying down our big debts, buying a new bed, and the fact that Levi is still not sleeping through the night consistently. I just couldn't do that to my in laws.

Jose worked the night before, so he slept all day. I didn't get to bed until 1am, the kids got up at 6:30am, and I was exhausted, so I took the kids to Jose's parents to keep them for the afternoon so I could rest a little before we went out to dinner. I was to call her later and let her know if we would pick them up or if she should drop them off at our house later. I left there at 2pm, laid down for an hour, and then met a girl I am mentoring for a little while. I called Jose's mom to check in at 5pm on the way home, and got a weird disconnected sound.

Not thinking anything of it, I continued on home and got Jose up. We didn't end up leaving until close to 6pm to drive towards Outback for dinner. I should have known our night was going up in flames. We were told it was going to be an hour and a half wait despite call ahead, so we left there and went toward Stuart to find a restaurant. Nearing 7pm, we decided to call Jose's parents and check in. No answer from Jose's mom. No answer from Jose's dad. Both numbers say they are disconnected. We try 3 different restaurants. Hour wait. Way too under dressed. Extremely expensive.

By now, I have hardly had any sleep, haven't eaten in 7 hours, can't get a hold of anyone watching our kids, and have had 4 restaurant disasters, so I started to fall apart in the parking lot. Jose could feel it, and was thoroughly agitated at his parents, so we left and headed towards their house to check on the kids. We pulled up to an empty house, lights off, no one home. I am ready to panic at this point. It's 7:30pm, I haven't talked to anyone since 2. Disconnected every time we call. Jose starts to drive to our house in case they are there. On the way, I remember that Micah said something about Chuckie Cheese (another blog for another day- one of my most hated places)- so I call there and they are being paged. No one fits their description.

We pull up to our house at 8pm, and no one is there either. We leave a note on the door: "If you get here, go to your house. CHECK YOUR PHONES, PLEASE." We head back to Jose's parents to wait. He says if they aren't there by 9pm, we are calling the police because we have no idea where our kids are, and can't contact any one. The worst starts running through my mind, especially since my in laws speak pretty broken English. What if there was an accident? They have no phone to call an ambulance...Nine o'clock comes and goes. Jose and I are on our knees in his parent's living room, asking for peace for us and protection for our babies...and protection for Jose's parents, that we don't kill them when they get there.

The truck rolls into the driveway at 9:30, nearly 7 1/2 hours since I kissed my little goblins goodbye and left them in hands that I trust. After all the events, Jose and I were mentally and physically exhausted. We were also enraged at Jose's parents. They forgot to pay their bill and got their phones cut off, and because they didn't think to ever call us and check in, they never checked their phones.

It could have ended so much worse. Every situation running through my mind could have been a reality. We rode home with two gorgeous boys sleeping in their seats, one kid sized and one bite sized, worn out from a date with the greedy, gambling, giant rat. We rode almost silently, hands laced and fingers gripped tight, thanking God that our babies were safe. Hunger paled, exhaustion didn't matter, they were safe.

I have no idea what it would have been like had things ended differently to our night, but I know one thing: we would weather it together, best friends, hand picked for each other by a God who has amazing plans for us. Ten years later, and a million hard moments, we were able to take a stress that could have decimated a couple and push right through.

I love you, Jose, and wouldn't change a moment we have had together. The naysayers came and went saying we were too young to get married, and where are they now? Standing in awe at how strong our love is.