Jeez, this is is one of the very few times where I almost really don’t know what to truly say to express all of the feels that happened to me yesteerday on my Friday route in Cuyahoga Falls.

I warn those of you who may be actually reading this, that this one may be a rather long post.

So as I was making my way westbound down Grant St and on the phone talking with my wife as I was approaching the 4 way-stop intersection wtih Mereline St., that is when it all undolded. It all really seemed to be sereal in the moment, even now looking back and reflecting on it to compose and write this post!

None the less there it was, a baby in nothing but a diaper 👶 approaching the end of the sidewalk and about to walk out into traffic. 

The car turning right from the street to my left didn’t stop or slow.

The car the was stopped at the stop sign I was approaching who had to see it as he swerved around it to avoid hitting the baby didn’t stop.

I was on a mission to complete my route, heading to my 25th delivery of the day. Right place, right time I guess. Because I at least, damn sure stopped!

By the time I could block the intersection diagonally with my vehicle, the baby had already cleared half of the intersection and was standing there on a manhole cover.

Barefoot, not a stich of clothes on. Just the diaper on its butt and a plastic blue ball in its’ hand. Hair pulled back into a ponytail. Feet clearly used to walking over the broken glass, cinders and loose stones littering the sidewalks and streets without any foot protection or hesitation it its pace.

Within a blink of an eye, I was out of my car and swooped the baby up and it was at least finally safe in mine. 

There was no one in hot pursuit of the toddler, as one might have expected there to be, ya know like a mom chasing it down or something. A young babysitter in on its heels in chase. Nope, nada!

So, as I stood there in utter shock for a couple of seconds, the guy in the car behind me started honking and throwing his hands up in the air with that, “Come on buddy, get the f out of the way” vibe. 

All I could do for 2 seconds was check over the baby for any wounds of anything noticeable. Then as I came to my senses I screamed, “Who’s FUCKING BABY IS THIS?” 

At this point I was looking for a fight on the baby’s behalf, but my beconing call into the ether on its’ behest went unaswered. Probably for the best given the situation. 

There were people in every direction from where I was standing there on the warming asphalt. A yound couple to the south. A imigrant family to the west. A couple of highscholers further down the street to the north. All looking at me. No one seeming phased or bothered by the situation.

I approached and asked the young couple coming out of their apratment if they had any clue as to who the baby might belong. They truly were unware having just recently moved into the neigborhood themselves.

At this point maybe 5 or so minuets have passed, as my wife still on the bluetooth, the young couple and I were all bewildered at the events unfolding. 

After a few more yells out, in desperation at this point, I asked the yound lady to give 911 a call as my actual phone at the time was still in my car. 

Getting the 911 operater to understand what was transpiring took a few moments as she was in just as much shock as we were. This is the type of thing that plays out on a screen or in a script somewhere. Not in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio! 

We stood there in the almost noon sunlight in astonishment. I asked the guy of the 2, if he wouldn’t mind parking my car for me along the sidewalk so traffice could move freely again.

It seemed like it took 5 to 10 minuets for the squard cars to begin to arrive, but I am sure it wasn’t nearly that long in reality. 6 of them arrived on scene from what I could count within moments of each other.

They were all kind of just as dumbfounded as I, and the couple each explained things from our perspectives. Yes we had to explain things several times over to all the each of the responding officers. During my 4th retelling, I was finally able to passs the baby off to one of the officers. A younger than me blondish guy probably mid to late 20s.

You could tell that he hasn’t held to many in his time and he was quick to pass it off to the female responding officer on the scene. She was going to be taking the baby back to the station to wait on children services to arrive and take custody. Nerve wracking words in my world from days way in the past, but I hope and pray they look after that little one. There other officers began to spread out into the directions of the 4 winds knocking on each door as tehy went, looking….

Officer Miller, the first on the scene and really the only office name I caught enough to care to remember, took down my name and pertinent information in case he needed to contact me in the future. Ran my information, just in case.

Of coarse I came back clean, no warrants, nothing that fun going on in my life, lol. But soon after I was allowed to clear the scene and continue on my with my route. Around 40 to 45 minuets after everything started.

Not once, in all of that time did anyone ever comeout looking for this sweet baby. As a parent, you know when a kid is kind of used to things. During the entire time this baby didn’t cryout.

It didn’t resist being picked up by a stranger. Didn’t hesitate at the giant that approached and scooped it up into probably the safest place it had been all day! I am 6’5″ give or take as I age and begin to shrink a lil’ bit. I am by no means a raceist. But this baby didn’t hesitate or resist being picked up by a white man in the middle of the street, it was clearly not of the caucasian persuasion and had wandered off from a the big family BBQ, if ya know what I mean. All because someone wasn’t watching like they should’ve been.

At some point through all of it, I had dropped the call with my wife. My emotional anchor. 😢  I climbed back into the drivers seat and had a moment of pure saddness and anger. Saddness at the realization of the last chunk of my life. What the implications of it all mean for my local society.

This neigborhood is less than 5 miles from my house, it isn’t what I would label as a bad one. This story could’ve ended up as one of bad ones that you see on the nightly news or find popping up in your FYP about some far off city you never visited. Not across town from me.

After gathering my composure and speaking with both my wife and work partner, I have truly come to believe that there just maybe a higher power keeping an eye out for us all. I know I ended up being in the right place, at the exact right time, that that baby needed someone to be there!

But I can’t help but also think… What if it wouldn’t have been me that was next to pull into that intersection. What if next time, it’s not one of the good guys!?