I have never been the type to remember things well, but there is this one moment that will always cling to me for the rest of my life. It was when my family accidentally left me at church alone while they went out to eat at a restaurant. This happened when I was around 11 to 12 years old.
It was a Sunday afternoon that day. We were at church. Nothing special or out of the ordinary was happening. Everything was just normal. The church service just ended and everyone rose from their seats to talk with each other. It was the usual social gathering time for everyone. During this time, my parents would speak to almost every person present in the building, while my siblings would talk to their friends. I never really had a person to talk to, so I always stuck close to my family.
At first, I was with my parents. They were with a family friend. I hear them talking about their lives and something about eating together for lunch. Losing interest, I decided to go to my sisters. They were laughing and joking around. I was into the conversation for a while, until I suddenly had a strong urge to pee. I quickly tell my sister, "I think I'll be going to the restroom." I then see her nod and I rush straight to the comfort room. I took my sweet time in there. I was pretty calm when I went out of the cr, but when I returned to the main hall, I was shocked. My family wasn't there. I looked at the sea of people and I couldn't see them. I tried searching for them, but they were gone. I felt panic creeping up on my body.
Instead of asking anyone if they saw my family leaving the church, I decided to look into it myself. I went to the Sunday school room and looked for my brother. He wasn't there. I walked back to the restroom to see if one of my sisters were waiting for me, but when I opened the door, the room was empty. I decided to look outside, hoping that maybe they were there waiting for me by the sidewalk. They weren't there.
I was scared. I felt like I was about to cry. I wanted to believe that they were there, so I thought to myself that they were probably hiding and waiting for me to cry so they would come out. When I was young, they would do those kinds of things sometimes. So, I manned up and stopped myself from letting the tears fall. I don't know what came to my head, but I decided to follow the sidewalk to see if my family was out there hiding from me.
I was in denial. I didn't like the idea of being abandoned. I walk and continue walking until I realized that I was about to reach the corner of the street. It finally occurred to me that my family left me behind. I returned back to the church building and sat on one of the benches outside. I was about to cry. I didn't know how to commute at that time and I had no way of contacting my parents. I didn't know their number. I also didn't want to ask the people inside the church to help me. When I was looking for my family, I was going in and out of the church. I thought at that time that it was too weird for me to do that. I thought that they were judging me, so I decided to just stay outside.
A lady then approached me. I look up to her and recognized her face. She was one of my churchmates. There was shock painted on her face when she saw me. "Why are you here? You're family already left!" The woman took out her phone and called my sister. I had no idea what was happening.
She then dropped the call and tried to cheer me up. "Sam is coming soon to pick you up. You should go inside and wait for her."
Hesitantly, I followed her and waited for my sister to arrive. When she came, I didn't know how to react. They actually left me at church all alone. I go to her and see a car waiting for us outside. "We thought you were with us and actually forgot that you went to the restroom. We were supposed to go to a restaurant with a friend of Dad's and his family, but when we arrived, we realized you weren't there."
She explained the full story to me when we went to a churchmate's car. It was all coming together now piece by piece, like I was solving a puzzle. So what happened was that my family went to a restaurant to eat with a family friend while I was still in the bathroom. They were a pretty big crowd, so they had to get two cars. My sister forgot that I was still in the restroom, so she thought that I was in the other car. When I came out, they already left for the restaurant. I was upset, but oddly enough, I thought it was incredibly amusing. I felt like laughing because she was the very person I asked permission from to go to the restroom. I couldn't believe she forgot about me, right after I told her I was going to the comfort room.
Ever since then, I always joked about it with my sister whenever I remember it. It has become an inside joke between us siblings.
It was a Sunday afternoon that day. We were at church. Nothing special or out of the ordinary was happening. Everything was just normal. The church service just ended and everyone rose from their seats to talk with each other. It was the usual social gathering time for everyone. During this time, my parents would speak to almost every person present in the building, while my siblings would talk to their friends. I never really had a person to talk to, so I always stuck close to my family.
At first, I was with my parents. They were with a family friend. I hear them talking about their lives and something about eating together for lunch. Losing interest, I decided to go to my sisters. They were laughing and joking around. I was into the conversation for a while, until I suddenly had a strong urge to pee. I quickly tell my sister, "I think I'll be going to the restroom." I then see her nod and I rush straight to the comfort room. I took my sweet time in there. I was pretty calm when I went out of the cr, but when I returned to the main hall, I was shocked. My family wasn't there. I looked at the sea of people and I couldn't see them. I tried searching for them, but they were gone. I felt panic creeping up on my body.
Instead of asking anyone if they saw my family leaving the church, I decided to look into it myself. I went to the Sunday school room and looked for my brother. He wasn't there. I walked back to the restroom to see if one of my sisters were waiting for me, but when I opened the door, the room was empty. I decided to look outside, hoping that maybe they were there waiting for me by the sidewalk. They weren't there.
I was scared. I felt like I was about to cry. I wanted to believe that they were there, so I thought to myself that they were probably hiding and waiting for me to cry so they would come out. When I was young, they would do those kinds of things sometimes. So, I manned up and stopped myself from letting the tears fall. I don't know what came to my head, but I decided to follow the sidewalk to see if my family was out there hiding from me.
I was in denial. I didn't like the idea of being abandoned. I walk and continue walking until I realized that I was about to reach the corner of the street. It finally occurred to me that my family left me behind. I returned back to the church building and sat on one of the benches outside. I was about to cry. I didn't know how to commute at that time and I had no way of contacting my parents. I didn't know their number. I also didn't want to ask the people inside the church to help me. When I was looking for my family, I was going in and out of the church. I thought at that time that it was too weird for me to do that. I thought that they were judging me, so I decided to just stay outside.
A lady then approached me. I look up to her and recognized her face. She was one of my churchmates. There was shock painted on her face when she saw me. "Why are you here? You're family already left!" The woman took out her phone and called my sister. I had no idea what was happening.
She then dropped the call and tried to cheer me up. "Sam is coming soon to pick you up. You should go inside and wait for her."
Hesitantly, I followed her and waited for my sister to arrive. When she came, I didn't know how to react. They actually left me at church all alone. I go to her and see a car waiting for us outside. "We thought you were with us and actually forgot that you went to the restroom. We were supposed to go to a restaurant with a friend of Dad's and his family, but when we arrived, we realized you weren't there."
She explained the full story to me when we went to a churchmate's car. It was all coming together now piece by piece, like I was solving a puzzle. So what happened was that my family went to a restaurant to eat with a family friend while I was still in the bathroom. They were a pretty big crowd, so they had to get two cars. My sister forgot that I was still in the restroom, so she thought that I was in the other car. When I came out, they already left for the restaurant. I was upset, but oddly enough, I thought it was incredibly amusing. I felt like laughing because she was the very person I asked permission from to go to the restroom. I couldn't believe she forgot about me, right after I told her I was going to the comfort room.
Ever since then, I always joked about it with my sister whenever I remember it. It has become an inside joke between us siblings.
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