5/5/2025 Just Bigger Feet Now...

Yesterday I was shopping in a local antique store searching for that elusive perfectly matching recliner for my basement living room.

While I was there I was reminded of an incident years ago...

One particular day I was wandering around the massive expanse of a furniture and home decor store with my late husband when I hear this over the loudspeaker:

Loudspeaker: “Code Adam in kitchen section.

Code Adam in kitchen section.”

Now we were in the Kitchen Section, so I look around to see a distraught woman surrounded by three employees.

Ah, well, all seems to be handled, I figure, so my late husband and I continue to the next section… where I see the toes of some little running shoes sticking out from behind a cabinet.

Me:  *To my late husband* “Hold on a...”

I break away from him and find a young boy, maybe three years old, crouching behind the cabinet.

He is grinning and he keeps peeking around the corner toward the kitchen section.

I move beside him and slide down the cabinet to sit beside him — on the far side so I’m not blocking his view of the kitchen section.

Me: “Are you playing hide-and-seek?”

He looks at me excitedly and nods. I nod back.

Me: “With your mother?”

He nods again enthusiastically.

Me: “Does she know?”

The nod comes WAY slower and is very hesitant.

Me: “Okay. What say we go tell your mother that you’re playing? Then she’ll be ready to play and it’ll be more fun.”

Boy: “Okay!”

He leaps up and we walk side-by-side back into the kitchen section.

When his Mother sees him, she breaks away from the group of employees and races to her boy.

I nod at her and walk away, back to my late husband, who’s flabbergasted.

My Husband: “What happened?”

Me: “The mother lost her kid. I just brought him back.”

My Husband: “What? How did you know?”

Me: “A freaked-out woman and some kid’s feet? I just figured that they’ve gotta be connected, you know?”

However, now days my feet are reclined up in my recliner chair. 😄

Nana