Working overseas, we meet many good people and a few stinkers.

There is a young lady down the hall from my office that drops by to visit and drink coffee every morning.  At least once a week, she has an interesting tale concerning her twin 5 year old sons.

One Monday morning, she came in and I could tell she had a ragged weekend.  She sat quietly, and then casually commented, “Did I tell you my kids ran away from home the other day?”

“Ah, no!”

“Yeah.  They took off out the front door and the nanny ran after them.  Outside, they split up and each went a different direction, and the nanny couldn’t catch either of them.”

I waited, not knowing what to say.

“We had the local guard force looking for them, and the Security office was out trying to find them.  I was worried sick!”

I assumed they were indeed found, so I said. “Where did they find them?”

“Oh, they were in a bookstore in the mall.  The one that has a bowl of free candy.”

And she continued. “They had to slip though the perimeter fence of the apartment compound and cross a very busy highway to get to the mall.  I asked them how they were able to cross the highway, and they said, ‘Oh, we held hands.”

Then she stated, “I was so distraught, I didn’t know whether to be relieved or angry.”

I did notice that she seemed to have a bit more gray in her hair.

Kids.  That had to have taken a year off her life.

Kick butt, D.