Once Upon a Time, I managed to get several Sedalia Police officers called to our house.

LET ME EXPLAIN. The first house I remember living in here in Sedalia was on South Carr, right across the street from my mother's mother, Virginia. It was not that far from where the station is today. Virginia had bought that house in the forties, and had lived there since her first husband died in World War Two. We rented a little two bedroom house right across the street.

This was about 1983 or so. I was all of four years old. This was a very scary time for my mom, as she would tell it later. She had seen all over the news about Adam Walsh going  missing not that long ago. I'm sure you remember it, his father John was all over the news and ended up on America's Most Wanted.  So me being a small child, my mom was already on high alert with me.

Then, one day, she was doing some chores around the house. My grandmother came over, and I apparently ran through her legs and out into the yard to play. Then, as they sat and chatted, there was a strange silence.

Parents know what that means. If you can't hear a kid, there's probably something wrong or something very messy is happening.

So my mom did what any parent would do: started looking for me. She went outside and fear set in. I was not in the backyard. I was not in the front yard. She called out and started  to run the block and look for me. Nothing. They tore up the house, looking behind couches, in closets, under the cabinets, everywhere. Nothing. They checked at Virginia's house; her backyard, her alley, the house, the basement, everywhere. They even checked the cars (in and under). Then... Mom really panicked.

At the time, my grandmother lived right next door to the Mayor of Sedalia at the time, Larry Foster. To hear my mother tell the story, Virginia raced over to his house and demanded a search party. So the cops got called, the neighbors got involved, and the Mayor's office was all looking for a little blonde four year old girl. They called the radio stations, they called the schools, they called everyone they could think of. There was a true panic.

They looked for an hour. Dozens of people were involved. My mom pulled my sister (five years older than me, up at Horace Mann) out of school.

So then, when my sister got home, she started helping in the search.

Almost immediately she found me.

Had I been kidnapped by a foul bad man?  Had I been pinned under a tree in an act of God? Had I run away to join the circus?

No. I was under my Mom's waterbed, asleep with our new kittens. I had run away from Virginia, ran around the house, and chased the kittens into my Mom's room. Then I promptly fell asleep under the bed with them.

My mom NEVER let me live that story down. I personally don't remember it, I only remember her telling me about it. I think the story got a little exaggerated as time went on. But hey, those kittens were cute!

Kittenly yours,

Behka

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