When I was about five years old, I went to amusement parks all the time in the summer.

It was an obnoxious amount of fun.

But in all honesty, if I went to these kids parks I used to go to now, I'd probably regret that decision.

I'm not saying I'm a germaphobe, but gross. I digress.

I recall being in a sea of people holding either my brother or my mother's hand and feeling like I was

being engulfed by them. They were so much bigger than me. They could squash me with one misstep.

During one of these day-long summer excursions, my family and I went to some local water park

that was swarming with people on a hot day.

After going on a few rides, we took a break to go check out a gift shop.

If I closed my eyes, I can actually still see the spinning display I was looking at.

My name has an uncommon spelling, so finding some sort of memento that had it spelled correctly was a huge feat for me, and I always looked.

And a fun fact, I still do this today.

What happened next was no one's fault.

And in all honesty, it was a typical scenario that happens to a lot of families,

and it was a very innocent mistake. My mom thought I was with my brother in the store.

My brother thought I was with my mom on the other side, and my grandmother assumed that I was with either one of them,

and they had their eye on me in the crowded gift shop.

Slowly but surely, they all exited the store while I still hunted for my name.

I can remember realizing that I had been in the store a long time,

and when I looked around, I didn't see my family.

I went to the threshold of the shop and looked out and all I saw was a million strange faces.

Luckily, instead of wandering amongst the stampede of people, I sat next to the door on this little ledge that was just big enough for me and waited.

...