How old am I?

On Friday, I enjoyed a blast from my past. One of my favorite rock bands as a kid, Night Ranger, was in town performing at the Green Valley Station. I took Jenny and an old friend, Matt Able with me to see them. Matt and I have seen them before, about 20 years ago in Hannibal, so this was kind of a fun moment to re-live our past. The three main members of the band are intact, with two of the original members no longer there. Overall, it was a fun show, the band played with a lot of energy, but was still showing its age a bit. They played all of our favorite songs, including a couple Matt, Mike Grimes, myself and a couple of other kids from the ward once mimicked in an air band contest at Youth Conference as kids. Good times and good memories. It does remind me how old I am though, as Jenny repeatedly poked fun at me and none of her friends had a clue who Night Ranger is. Seeing some of the "rockers" who were in the audience in their middle ages, yet still sporting 80's rock hairdo's was also funny. Yes, I am getting old.

Another funny (well, not really until it was over) story that recently happened to us: Not long ago, Jenny tried to sneak out of the house to make a run to the local Target and pick up a few miscellaneous items. Instead of opening the garage door and driving out in her car, which would alert the troops, she left out the front door and took my car instead. I was upstairs with Rebekah doing homework in her bedroom when Rhett came in room and asked me where mom was. I noncholantly told him that she had gone to Target. Rhett said OK and I heard him go down the stairs, and thought no more of it. After about ten minutes, I began to wonder where Rhett was as it was suddenly unusually quiet. I called his name a few times and got no answer, so made a quick run around the house and he was nowhere to be seen. I checked to see if he had crawled into Jenny's car (as he often does), but he was not there. Now, I was getting nervous. Often, Jenny walks with the kids over to Target, so I ran out and checked the road, then walked a little of the way, but did not see him. Now, I really was getting a little stressed. I called Jenny's cell as she walked in the door and told her the story. We checked the house room by room, and finally went back into the garage. We finally found Rhett curled up asleep in the little buggy we hook up to the bicycle sometimes. You could not see him from the direction I first passed by while checking the garage, but from the other way, he was easy to spot. Here is a picture we took of the little guy.

There is no way to describe the empty feeling you get when you can't locate a lost child. You feel panicked, scared, and completely helpless in those situations. Conversely, the relief you feel is just as hard explain. You can only understand when it has happened to you.