Sorry, sorry, sorry is all I can say for my lack of updates. Life handed us many lemons over the last month so I focused my energy into making lemonade.....lol.
Out of respect for my daughter I don't want to disclose too much, but as many of you know Katrina decided to run away at the end of September. I awoke September 19th to Don asking me who locked up the house the night before, he came home from working graveyard to find the patio slider was open. I locked that door and triple checked all the doors before I went to bed so I panicked, ran to check on all our sleeping children. All our children were sound asleep except for Katrina. I woke Ali to ask if she knew where her sister was, she didn't know, but she had enough sense to see if any of her things were missing and while she was checking Don was calling Katrina's friend #1. Ali found that Katrina's hair products were missing and Don was told by Katrina's friend #1 that Katrina made plans with another girl #2 to sneak out of the house to go to a party.
Don and I immediately drove to the girl #2's house to see if she was missing too. We woke her mom and she checked the girl's room to make sure she was there and we were surprised when this girl #2 came into the living room with her mom. This girl swore to us she didn't know Katrina's were abouts and would check around to see where she might be. Don & I both knew that girl #2 knew where Katrina was at and she was covering up for her.
We returned home to call the sheriff and reported our daughter as a runaway. A report was taken and I was told that if we get any new information to let the sheriffs know otherwise if they came across anything they would let us know, but other then that there was nothing more.
That was a long day for us as we searched every place possible for our daughter and called every number we came across. The next step was calling our friends and posting on Facebook for everyone to keep their eyes for my girl.The night was even longer! I sat up all night Internet searching for the GPS locator on her phone, but nothing was showing on the map.
When morning finally came I tried to get our children ready for school while assuring them Katrina was fine and she would come home. Before our children left for school Ali got a text from Katrina's friend #2 "Have you heard from Katrina? OMG I am so freaked out that she is gone. I hope she is okay!" When Ali told me about that text it was all I could do to not scream, but I waited till Don got the kids out the door and broke down, I feared the worse and knew that if girl #2 really did not know Katrina's were abouts nobody did and our girl was more then likely in danger! I made a flier that we were going to take to print with volunteers lined up ready to pass out fliers all day, the same flier was posted on Facebook with many passing that flier onto everyone they knew on Facebook.
As I was getting ready to head out the door to print the flier a sheriff called to say he knew Katrina's were abouts and he was waiting to hear back from other officers to confirm it. The sheriff called back to say the location wasn't confirmed as this family had moved, but the landlord was working on the house and gave them more information about the family. The sheriff told me the family was trouble and all was concerned about was getting Katrina out of there. About an hour later he called to say an officer found the new home and were on their way to see if Katrina was there. About 45 minutes later the officer called back to tell me Katrina had been picked and was on her way home!
Oh my goodness, I cannot tell you the relief to hear that my daughter was on her way home, but I knew that we had only begun our journey on this unexpected path!
When Katrina came home she was not happy to be here, she didn't want to talk and she was ticked off! It took some work and she did talk and tell us where and what she had been doing and why she ran away. Out of respect for Katrina what I will tell you is that she is trying to explore her world around her on her own, she is trying to practice her independence and wants to do so without the rules of her parents. Katrina is not using drugs, but has tried alcohol a few times.
There are other issues that came, a package deal that I will not post here, but what I will say is that we as a family have pulled together and are stronger. We as a family are talking a lot more and taking more time out from each other. Kiersten did come home for almost a week so that she could process what had happened and be here to firmly put her arm around her little sister. We took a weekend and took off without telling hardly anyone and just did nothing but spend a weekend together without any interruptions, it was more then needed.
Today we working with Katrina and all our children to learn more of what is important to them and how we can better support them through all the good and bad they have to go through as growing teens and little ones. Katrina is working with a therapist who is helping her sort through the areas that Katrina isn't comfortable talking to us about and we are thrilled that she is talking to a therapist instead of her peers. We are making progress, we are holding strong and taking the right steps to keep our family healthy and together.
When my girls were little I use to think that when kids ran away from home they were running from things that were more then likely awful and they were searching for better then what they had. I have learned that is sometimes the case and other times it's not. There times kids run as they want to spread their wings sooner then they are ready.
So, I share what I shared with you as a parent who has learned to say "never say never" all our children grow & learn as individuals, but I have really learned that no matter what we as parents do our children will walk their own paths choosing their own journey. It is a reality check that our children are not ours to own and keep, but they really are entrusted to us for a short time to care for, guide and teach. It is God who our children belong to and so I call on God to help us raise his child and guide her to the path she is to walk on. It is a hard thing to do, but is only with the grace of God that we can be the parents that our children need, especially in today's world.
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