Lost Child in K-Mart

I almost forgot to write about the biggest scare of my life! Maybe somehow I'm trying to block it out. On Sunday we went to K-mart (no link required, you know?) Philip's sandals broke apart at the straps (and they were NOT K-mart shoes, I don't know what the deal is with that, besides he's such an active kid and just wears the crap out of his shoes!) So, we're in K-mart, just me and the three boys. We're all in one aisle of the shoes. I notice Evan is suddenly missing. I call out for him. Usually, he is very quick to respond "i'm over here mom." Or, he'll come running. Nothing. I walk to the next aisle. Empty. Back again to where we were, and over one more aisle. Empty. By this point I'm ready for them to call a CODE ADAM and lock down the store. I run in kind of a mini circle calling out to him. No answer. Suddeny a lady asks "is he wearing a shirt kinda like yours?" (tie dyed.) Yes. Oh, I just saw him in towels. Ok, I run to towels, calling his name. Still absolutely no answer. I have forgotten that my other two are still in shoes, w/ no supervision! ACK! Again, a mini-panicking running circle...and continuous loud calling of his name. Nothing. Now I'm at the front of the store, close to the start of the cash registers. I have decided to get the store locked down, I can NOT believe he hasn't answered yet. Mind you, this has only been a few seconds, but my heart was beating fast enough for it to have been a lifetime! Everyone is beginning to help me look, asking what he looks like, I'm announcing what he's wearing and standing there hopeless, when all of a sudden, a flash of color and giggles and smiles comes running toward me from THE GARDEN CENTER!!!! How in the whole world did he get all the way from SHOES to the GARDEN CENTER?????!!!!!!! I don't know, but I picked him up and let the tears roll down. I held him so close and told him how badly scared I was when I couldn't find him and he laid his head on my shoulder and told me not to be scared. I was so drained and shocked I couldn't yell or be mad, I was just in pure and total relief-filled love to be holding him again. I carried him back to shoes, where we continued shoppingwhile visions of child leashes (which i am utterly and totally against!) danced in my head......I might just not be so quick to judge next time I see a kid strapped into one of those things! He must've really picked up on how scared I was cause everywhere we've been since, he has stuck to me like glue, even happily staying in the shopping cart today at the grocery store. Phew! It really does only take a second of turning your back....