We Lost Cameron Again

 

Last night we had one of those heart stopping moments. We were visiting our friends with the ferret. Cameron didn't get to see the ferret this time, instead he got to say hello to the possums and spent ages feeding a pink a grey galah. My friend is a wildlife carer

We were all scattered throughout the house chatting and Cameron was wandering around the house between us all. I was chatting to my friend when Cameron popped into the laundry to say hi but he quickly got bored with mum talk and headed off. Unfortunately the gorgeous young girls he'd been sitting and admiring had gone out for the night so it appears he got a bit bored.

My friend and I wandered out to the kitchen and noticed the back door wide open. We immediately asked everyone where Cameron was and My Marvellous Man assured us he was in the study. I quickly assured him that he wasn't. A quick look around the house told us Cameron wasn't to be found and he must have wandered outside.

These friends live on a bush block half an hour from town. It was pitch black outside and all their fencing is gone because they were caught in the middle of a terrible bushfire at the beginning of the year. Their house is surrounded with the chaos of a clean up after a fire that burnt everything except their home.

Everyone, My Little Angel included, took off outside calling Cameron. My first immediate thought was check the cars - we've lost Cameron before at their house during a party. The party stopped and everyone searched for our son. He was found sitting in the back of a very nice 4WD car obviously waiting for someone to take him for a drive. This time he wasn't sitting in a car.

We were searching in the dark trying to figure out where he would have gone and contemplating whether he would have headed into the burnt bush, down the driveway or what? The knot in the stomach was starting to tighten when My Little Angel yelled - "there he is" - and indeed there he was walking in through the gates of the driveway. The gates are pointless at the moment because there are no fences,

I was so relieved and he seemed unharmed and happy. He obviously heard us calling and turned back, thank goodness. I'm not sure if he was trying to follow the girls or thought he would walk to town. Who knows!?!

We got inside and discovered Cameron had soot on his face and hands. What had he been doing? Hugging burnt trees? We will never know but thank goodness he came back and didn't hurt himself. For Cameron to take off down a dirt track in the dark tells you a lot about his new found confidence. In the past he wouldn't have been confident enough to walk down that track in broad daylight for fear of falling over - he has come a long way.

As you now know this is not the first time we have lost Cameron. There was the time at the party when he turned up in the car - there were fences back then and the gates were shut. He was about ten years old.

Then there was the time we woke up and could hear his voice. We lay listening to him and then realized his voice was getting further and further away. Cameron was five years old and we had just moved into a new house in an empty new housing estate (thank goodness) We clearly didn't have sufficient security on the front door and Cameron had managed to open the door and leave. His voice was becoming fainter as he walked off down the road. We barricaded that door every night with furniture until the security door was installed and the key hidden.

This doesn't paint us as very competent parents as we seem to lose our son approximately every five years. Hopefully we won't repeat ourselves when he is twenty but this is our lives. Cameron has a body big enough to reach door knobs and strong enough to open locks but doesn't have the commonsense to keep himself safe. We have to give him a level of independence and freedom whilst trying to keep him safe. We live in fort knox which annoys our visitors and when we visit family and friends everyone is very conscience of keeping an eye on Cameron. (Normally)

Clearly the universe thought we needed a little reminder not to become complacent. Cameron is changing and becoming more adventurous and inquisitive. He has realized that there is a big wide world out there that he has been missing and he wants to get out there and discover it.