Yesterday we experienced along with a wonderful helper, Rosa, the worst type of scare any parent could experience. We received a call from her at 6:15 am in which she told us her 14-year old son did not return home from school the day prior and now had been missing all night. She was in a total state of panic, as could be expected and we also felt our hearts drop. We immediately thought the worst and in fact, Alan even told me, given all the circumstances including the fact that this is Peru and they don't live in a very safe area, he was very likely dead...something I could not accept. I've never met her son but Rosa is part of our family here in Lima. She looks after us and our children as if we were part of her family and so trying to wrap my head around this possibility was just too difficult. And of course her reason for calling was to tell us she wouldn't be able to come to work which would have been the last thing I would have been worried about but for Rosa and for most empleadas, as they are called here, maintaining their job which supports them and their family is extremely important.
We began to sort through the different possibilities including that perhaps he was kidnapped and trafficked, or hit by a car on his way home (which was a long distance), or had been attacked and robbed by a gang, or perhaps had run away for some reason. The first few options unfortunately seemed much more likely than the last one. We called Rosa back and told her that after going to the police she should check all the hospitals in between his school and her home and she said she would do that.
So all day we continued to worry and pray that he was ok. I called Rosa midday and there was no news which in this case was very bad news. I thought if he didn't return home after a night away, he was probably not able to return. I held my two boys a little closer yesterday imagining the terror Rosa must have been feeling. When I spoke to her midday, I asked her if there was any reason he would have left on his own like perhaps he was angry with someone at home, and she assured me all had been fine. We went to bed thinking of her and hoping we'd get some good news in the morning. And that is just what happened. Rosa called us and told us that they found him and he had in fact run away to a friend's house after a fight with his father yesterday. Rosa was of course elated and so were we. And I couldn't help but reflect on the years I spent working with runaway youth in New York. Somehow here in Peru, in South America, it seemed so unlikely to me that her son would have done what is so commonly done among adolescents in the US...they get angry at their parents, want some space or want to upset their parents the same way the feel upset by them and so they runaway for a night or two. But in the end, her son was just doing what many average teenagers do. I can only hope that her family has a chance to reflect on what happened and work through whatever is going on for them. We are just happy she has her son back.
We began to sort through the different possibilities including that perhaps he was kidnapped and trafficked, or hit by a car on his way home (which was a long distance), or had been attacked and robbed by a gang, or perhaps had run away for some reason. The first few options unfortunately seemed much more likely than the last one. We called Rosa back and told her that after going to the police she should check all the hospitals in between his school and her home and she said she would do that.
So all day we continued to worry and pray that he was ok. I called Rosa midday and there was no news which in this case was very bad news. I thought if he didn't return home after a night away, he was probably not able to return. I held my two boys a little closer yesterday imagining the terror Rosa must have been feeling. When I spoke to her midday, I asked her if there was any reason he would have left on his own like perhaps he was angry with someone at home, and she assured me all had been fine. We went to bed thinking of her and hoping we'd get some good news in the morning. And that is just what happened. Rosa called us and told us that they found him and he had in fact run away to a friend's house after a fight with his father yesterday. Rosa was of course elated and so were we. And I couldn't help but reflect on the years I spent working with runaway youth in New York. Somehow here in Peru, in South America, it seemed so unlikely to me that her son would have done what is so commonly done among adolescents in the US...they get angry at their parents, want some space or want to upset their parents the same way the feel upset by them and so they runaway for a night or two. But in the end, her son was just doing what many average teenagers do. I can only hope that her family has a chance to reflect on what happened and work through whatever is going on for them. We are just happy she has her son back.
