What you're about to read is a true story. It is a true story, written in the style of those wonderful Curious George books that captivated Y2's imagination and humor when he was a little boy. If there was ever a child who personified that mischievous little ape (and he is an ape...specifically, a chimpanzee), that child is...was and probably always will be Y2.
Y2 was a good little boy...
but ALWAYS very curious.
One day, Y2...and his family...and a BUNCH of other people from their church rode the train from Bamaham to The Big Apple. They were going on a mission trip. Y2 was the youngest one in the group and the only student NOT in high school. Had Mama or Daddy bothered to ask him if he wanted to go to The Big Apple, he might have told them no. But no one asked. (That's just the way grown ups are, sometimes.)
The train trip took twenty-two hours. Did you know that twenty-two hours is almost a whole day? When Y2, his family and the big BUNCH of people finally got to The Big Apple, they were all a little loopy. And tired.
And hot. And hungry. And just a little bit smelly.
After A LOT of walking through Penn Station, wearing BRIGHT yellow shirts and dragging their luggage the WHOLE way, they finally found their way through the subway tunnels
and to the train that would take them to Queens.
A little MORE walking...still dragging their luggage and wearing the BRIGHT yellow shirts and they found their home for the week: The New York School of Urban Ministry. Y2 and all the other males were on the 4th floor. Mama and all the other ladies were on the third. No boys on three, no girl on four! Those were the rules and that really wasn't a problem since Y2 was big enough to take care of himself and still somewhat convinced that girls have cooties.
The Big Apple was like nothing Y2 had ever seen!
There were really TALL buildings!
So many lights! So many people!
While they were on their mission trip in The Big Apple, Y2, his family and their BIG BUNCH of people did a lot of work to share the love of God and the good news
of Jesus the Redeemer wherever they went.
On their last day of ministry work with The Dream Center, Y2, his family, and their BIG BUNCH of people were going to have a picnic in Bryant Park. His mama told him that this is where they have Fashion Week, every year. She was very excited about that. Him....not so much.
Everyone piled in to the Panera restaurant (and proceeded to FILL THAT PLACE UP) that is just around the corner from Bryant Park. As the orders were ready, members of the group left the restaurant and walked to the park. Mama and Daddy's food was ready before Y2's, so he stayed with the rest of their group that was still waiting for their food.
Y2's mama looked up as the last of their group arrived at the park and was asked the strangest question by Mrs. W...the chaperon who was with the last group of students at Panera:
"Where's Y2? Is he with you?"
Y2's mama couldn't answer that question because she thought he was with Mrs. W and the rest of the group waiting for food at Panera. The understanding that Y2 was missing ran through the group like an electrical current. Mrs. W dropped her lunch and started back tracking. His daddy jumped up and left the park to look for him. Y1 took off like a bullet out of a gun, back to Panera to see if he was there. Another of the boys, Long-and-Tall, chased after Y1. Some of the girls gathered around Y2's mama, who was trying her very best to keep calm. Other groups of students ran out to help find him.
The sweet girls, who stayed with Y2's mama, prayed over her. It was all they knew to do. And while they prayed, she prayed. There's a story in the Bible about a woman named Hagar. Hagar prayed to God, calling Him "The God who sees me." Y2's mama changed that prayer to "The God who sees my child. You see my child! I can't, but You see my child." As the minutes passed, it got harder and harder to stay calm. People around their remaining group watched and stared. Several of them even started looking around...maybe they could see a young boy walking alone through the park.
All of the sudden, a group of the girls came running back asking what Y2 was wearing.
"That BRIGHT orange Yankees hat and his blue 'Happy, Happy, Happy' t-shirt." Y2's mama was never so grateful for her son's love of loud colors! About two minutes later, one of the girls got a phone call...THEY FOUND HIM!!
It was all Y2's mama could do to stay upright. She kept her eyes glued to the park entrance and when she saw that BRIGHT orange hat, she ran to get that very curious boy into her arms!
At this point, we will let Y2 tell the story in his own words.
I got my sandwich and walked out of Panera with the rest of our group. I was the first one out the door. I stopped at the corner and waited for the light, so I could cross safely. Crossing the street in NYC is very dangerous! I crossed the street and made a left and walked a little ways more. All of the sudden, I found myself standing in front of the New York Public Library. Alone.
I didn't see anyone from my group. I wondered if they went inside the library to look around, so that's what I decided to do. Our group carried small, blue string back packs. I didn't see any of them. I asked one of the librarians if he had seen a group of people with blue backpacks. He said he hadn't seen anyone like that. Then I remembered that they were supposed to be in the park. I decided to head back outside.
As I was leaving, I had to get in line to have my bag searched. I guess they worry about people stealing their books! I asked the man who searched my bag if he had seen other people with bags like mine. He hadn't but asked me if I had lost my group...which, I had...but really, I think they lost me. This nice man called the library's security office to come and help. I asked if I could use his phone to call Mama. I knew her cell number by heart. But, she didn't answer. I had to leave a message.
Two men from the security office arrived and asked me lots of questions about my group. I wasn't really scared. Then all of the sudden, one of our girls (Mama calls her "Gabigail") spotted me. I think she was very happy to see me, although, she said, "Y2! I'm gonna kill you!" Gabigail hugged me really big and then she grabbed my hand. More of our kids showed up and as we were leaving the library, Daddy was running in! He gave me a really big hug and said that I needed to go see Mama. He wanted to speak with the security officers. I was glad to see Mama and the rest of our people. Mrs. W almost hugged my head off when she saw me! She felt really terrible about me getting lost. It was kind of embarrassing to have all that attention. I'm not a baby, you know. I had a plan, if they hadn't found me. I had enough money in my pocket to buy a Metro card so I could take the subway back to NYSUM. I'm pretty sure I could have done it, but I'm awfully glad I didn't have to!
Y2's mama was so thankful to have her boy back and that he was safe. She sat down with him so he could eat his lunch and grabbed her phone from her blue back pack. There was a missed call and a voice mail message.
"Hey, Mama. It's Y2. I'm inside the library at the security check. I got separated from the group. I'm okay. Come inside the library."
Y2's mama couldn't believe it! The message was recorded just about the time everyone realized that he was missing. She hadn't thought to pick up her phone. All she could think about was him. What a SMART boy! How in the world did he get to be SO smart?
Y2's daddy had a nice talk with the library's security chief. His name is Christopher Stahly and as far as Y2's family is concerned, he's flippin' AWESOME!
Mr. Stahly told Y2's daddy that he deals with folks who get lost everyday and in a city like The Big Apple, LOTS of people get lost. What he doesn't always see is people who handle the situation like Y2 did..."he displayed much courage and remained calm during the whole incident." (When the family got back to Bamaham, Y2's mama sent Mr. Stahly and his staff a BIG basket of goodies from Dean and Deluca. She told Y2 it was a very nice food store and she was very excited about that. Him...not so much.)
The day ended well...even if Y2's mama had a few more grey hairs then when it started. What better way to celebrate than with a couple of silly pictures.
Y2, his family and their BIG BUNCH of people left Bryant Park and went to Harlem to hand out Popsicles and water. No one let Y2 very far out of their sight. Once was enough...to last a life time.
This is a very happy ending.
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