I don't know about you, but I live in terror of the day my daughter discovers that being mad at your parents is a good excuse to "run away." My friend's son tried to do it at 4. He vowed he'd "look both ways when crossing the street," packed his bag, and marched toward the door. Fortunately, he decided his suitcase was too heavy before he actually made it as far as Haley Wilson, the 17-year-old girl who climbed out the window of her Amarillo, Texas home the night after Christmas.
Her dad, Ray Wilson, has been pulling out all the stops to get her back, making YouTube videos and talking to local media. But the cops have told him something that leaves my blood cold. In the State of Texas, 17 years old is considered adult. They've put her on the runaway list, but legally, Haley Faith Wilson is allowed to do whatever she wants.
Sorry, I don't buy it.
Sure, legally, Haley Wilson is an adult. But the way she left her dad: climbing out her window, leaving a note telling him not to try to find her, is anything but.
I remember running away from home for real. I was 18 years old, and ooooh, did my parents make me angry. I took off in my car, only to realize I'd left some important things behind. So I returned, and when I ran inside to gather my belongings, my father took the keys from my car. I was angry, but he was right. I shouldn't have driven off into the night like that.
The next day, keys back in my hand, a good night's rest in me, I did leave. But I had a straighter head. And when I arrived at my destination, a full eight hours away, one of the first things I did was get on the phone and call my parents to tell them where I was. I wasn't telling them to come get me, and I wasn't apologizing.
Ray Wilson's YouTube video reminds me exactly why I called them. Because being an adult is remembering that people do care about you, and anger does not stop them from worrying. Seeing him hold up photos of Haley and her silver Ford Focus, I put myself in my parents' shoes back then and my own 11 years in the future. If that were my daughter, I'd politely tell the police I don't get a flying patootie what the law says. She's my kid, I want to know where she is. Even if I can't legally bring her home, I need to know that she's safe.
Ray Wilson's YouTube videos and Twitter efforts have all my support. He's doing what I would do too.
Watch Ray Wilson's heartbreaking video and tell me: is there ever an age when you'd let your kids run away and not look for them?
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Image via YouTube