Brooke- 60 minutes of total fear.

In our hectic and busy lifes, it is very easy to overlook possible problems. One thing I never gave much thought about, what if Brooke ever got out of her house unsupervised. At 8:15 this morning, it became very real. My cell phone vibrated at work. On the phone was a very frantic Grandma Linda. "Brooke is missing and Cora can't find her." My heart sank, oh my God, here is a little girl that hardly speaks and very rarely answers to her name.
I quickly left work and headed to Cora's. I called Linda on the way and told her to make sure the police were called. It was already done. My greatest fear was that Brooke loves water, and there are many backyard pools in Concordia. The what ifs started sinking in. I was extremely worried about the possible outcome. I first stopped by Brookes great uncles garage, right across the street from Cora's house. Brooke had been over there before to watch TV. Brookes Aunt Rachael was already there searching. Nothing. I then checked 6 or 7 pools in the neighborhood. Nothing. I then drove home, knowing Brooke had walked down there twice when she was 2, with her Mom walking closely behind her to see where she was going. Nothing. I then headed down to the 2nd street park. Brooke had played there many times. Nothing. I then decided to head back to Brookes neighborhood and check swingsets. On the way there I saw my buddy Roger of the city crew sweeping roads. I stopped him and asked if he saw Brooke. He said he hadn't, but would contact other city workers on his radio so they could keep an eye open for Brooke.
My hope while searching was that Brooke would go someplace familar to her. The little girl has an internel GPS system build in, and remembers how to go to places she was at before. After leaving Roger I drove slowly up a few alleys looking for Brooke. Nothing. I was so impressed that every street I went across, I saw someone on foot or also driving slowly looking for Brooke, including Cloud County and City Police. I drove down to the school house where Brooke goes to Headstart. Nothing. I figured I would drive down to Brookes Grandpa Bill's house and check. About that time my cellphone rang and it was Brookes Aunt Monica. "I've Found Her." What a relief. I asked her where at, and she said at her Dad's house (Grandpa Bill). Monica said she didn't have a car seat to take Brooke home. I told her to hold on and I'll be right there. I didn't have a carseat either, but figured it wasn't a real problem, considering how distraught her Mom was and that Brooke had been found ok. When I pulled up in front of Bill's house, Monica came outside carrying a nude Brooke wrapped in a blanket. I got out of the car and walked over to Brooke and Monica. Brooke reached out for me and how great it felt to hug her. I told Monica I would drive Brooke home and she could ride along and hold Brooke. I gave Brooke back to Monica and Brooke said "No, No, No." Monica told her it was ok she was going to ride in grandpa's car. When we pulled into Cora's driveway, all I saw was tears of relief. Cora came over, grapped Brooke from Monica, and headed straight in the house with her. Talk about a relieved Mother, I thought she was gonna squeeze Brooke so hard her head may pop off. Poor Monica had crap stains all over the front of her shirt from Brooke. The city Police showed up and asked me were Brooke had been found, etc. It had been exactly 1 hour from the time I left work until Brooke had been found. I cannot thank the family, local people and law enforcement enough for helping to search for Brooke. She is such a special little girl.
As I write this tonight, it is good to know that Brookes house has now been fortified. Right after work today, Grandma and I headed down to Radio Shack for door alarms, and to the Homestore for extra door locks. Cora's front door now has a chain lock on it, plus an alarm loud enough to wake the dead if opened. The back door, where Brooke most likely escaped, has a surface mound, spring loaded dead bolt, installed 5 feet from the ground. Whenever an adult leaves the house, the dead bolt automatically locks behind them. Cora also wants to see about getting a service dog for Brooke. The dog's are trained for special needs people to keep them out of harm's way.
After I finished installing door locks and alarms, I walked over to Brooke. She was watching Blues Clues and not paying attention to me. I tickled her and she feel over backwards, looked up at me, and gave me a great big smile. I must say it was the most amazing smile I have ever seen.