DIY

It's not the phone call that I would expect to get on a Sunday afternoon. My wife and I were relaxing after sending my son off to this year's Maker Faire with his uncle and his cousins. The call came from one of the support people who was helping with lost children. Ours was a lost child. The good news came quickly: he was safe. Then came the challenge: how to hook him back up with his party, since at that point they were the ones who were technically "lost." With a little bit of cellular phone wrangling, we were able to triangulate and reunite him with his extended family unit.
But for a moment there, it was a little disconcerting. Even now, at this late date, I still find myself reaching out at curbs for a little hand to help across the street. In airports I make a chore out of keeping him in sight. The idea that he is now often in places and situations over which I have no control gives me pause. Then I reflect on just how clever my son is. On Sunday, after he had become separated from his group, he looked around and saw a familiar sight: the distinctive silver Airstream trailer of Lucky Ju Ju Pinball. My son walked over and found Mike, the guy who runs Ju Ju, and asked if he could "climb up on top of the trailer to see if I can see my cousin. He's pretty tall." Mike appreciated the can-do nature of his suggestion, but pointed him instead to the guest relations tent, where a very nice lady made a call home for him to reconnect with his temporarily misplaced family members. It was a moment worthy of a merit badge.
After a few more reassuring phone calls, my wife and I settled back into our quiet afternoon. Even though I flinched a little each time the phone rang after that, I was able to enjoy the way that things work out in the end.