This is the place. I looked at the sign last Monday morning, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end. It has been over 20 years since I stood here with tears in my eyes, my heart racing and fear overwhelming me. I thought I might be over it, but I was wrong.
We are zoo people. We love zoos. We have been to lots of zoos. Many of our vacations have a zoo prominently featured in them. Our trip to the West Coast was no different and the San Diego Zoo was given an entire day. I had grown up hearing about the zoo from the Johnny Carson show and Joan Embry’s frequent visits. It was past my bedtime, but when the zoo animals were on, the rules got bent. A lifetime of dreaming was wrapped up in our visit to the San Diego Zoo.
We arrived before opening and planned to stay through the extended hours into the night. The day before we had bought matching shirts at the Monterey Bay Aquarium featuring beautiful really cute otters. We were wearing them, proudly announcing our love for animals. We had a great day of walking and interacting with the animals. One of the highlights was the pandas. A recent birth meant we had a chance to see a real miracle. We stood in line and were able to shuffle quietly past the enclosure. A gift shop waited at the end of the journey.
We browsed the shirts and picked bright red ones featuring the face of a panda. We planed to wear them the next day, but it was still early and we did not want to carry them around all day. “Its OK,” we were told, “They have them and the big gift shop near the exit.” Logan looked longingly at the stuffed pandas and asked respectfully if he could have one. We declined. He took the disappointment without dignity.
Even though the park closed at 9PM we were nearing the exit about 8:40PM so that we could get our shirts. That is when we found out that the only place to buy panda shirts was on the other side of the park at the exhibit. We had no time to argue. We ran. Lance and I took the lead and Logan and Cindy were in the back. The gap between us increased. Lance and I arrived at the shop out of breath, but before it closed. We grabbed the shirts. Just a minute later, Cindy arrived. Logan was not with her. We realized it instantly. He had lost sight of us and did not see us turn into the shop. He kept running thinking we were ahead of him. He got far away fast.
We sprang into action. We told the workers who radioed the front gate. The description was easy-we knew exactly what he was wearing. We went out on the street and headed in opposite directions. Disregarding social conventions, I yelled his name at the top of my lungs several times over. People stopped and stared and then came to me. They knew. The got the description. I continued to yell. People began to move off in different directions. People picked up his name and I could hear people calling for him like ripples in the water.
The we heard the words far in the distance. “He’s here.” We ran. We ran in that direction until we found him walking back with a stranger toward us. We dropped into an embrace and tears. It had been 5-6 minutes, but in a huge crowd, in the dark, a long way from home, they had all been filled with terror.
We walked back to the shop, which was still open, they waited for us to buy the shirts. Cindy grabbed the stuffed panda and put it on the counter, we both knew it was going home with us that night (It is still in his room). “I once was lost, but now I am found.” I never hear those words without thinking about that night. I know that God’s heart races for his children and he wants each of them to hear him calling their name and he is desperate to find them and embrace them and take them home.