When the hurricane blew through,
And flooded the entire town,
Buses came to rescue folks,
To move them up to higher ground.Nervous, frightened people,
Saw the buses there in wait,
And they raced madly to them,
So eager to escape.
A mother running with a child
Tried to make it through the mob,
"Hurry, honey!" she grasped her hand,
And prayed silently to God.
The child's doll was in one hand,
Her mother tugged upon the other,
"Quickly, dear!" her mother cried,
As people pushed and shoved her.
Too many people in a panic,
Each man sought to save himself,
Too few thought of other folks,
Or to lend a hand in help.
The mother with the little girl,
Somehow made it to the bus,
She pushed her daughter through the door,
But lost her grip in the people's rush.
With a burst of air, the big door closed,
The mother still outside,
With fists, she pounded on the door,
Her little girl now trapped inside.
The bus took off and headed out,
The mother shouted, "STOP!"
She screamed and waved her arms in vain.
Till on the ground, she dropped.
"My baby girl is on that bus,
She's only three years old,
Oh, dear Lord, protect my child,"
Her cries came from her soul.
In the meantime, the frantic child
Looked around the bus in fright,
She searched and searched for mommy's face,
As she squeezed her dolly tight.
She could hold back her tears no longer,
They streaked down her baby cheeks,
"Mommy! Mommy!" cried the child,
So vulnerable and weak.
"Don't worry," a stranger's voice said,
"She'll be on the bus behind,"
And while the child was soothed a bit,
She still was troubled in her mind.
Her mother boarded a second bus,
Which should have brought them peace,
But neither one knew at the time,
One bus went West - the other, East.
The buses reached safe destinations,
Far beyond the flooding water,
Though separated now, by miles
Were a mother and a daughter.
No idea where the other was,
Confusion reigned at both their sites,
A baby's tears; a mother's sobs,
Nothing ... nothing ... was all right.
The Salvation Army and Red Cross
Did the very best they could,
And other helping groups joined in
To try to do more good.
So many, many evacuees,
Spread and scattered through the land,
Too many family separations,
No one seemed to have a plan.
The priorities - now families,
Which must be united at all costs,
Was it right to save the mommies,
Yet allow the babies to be lost?
We want all ties to be retied,
Including that mother and her child,
We want to find each soul that's lost
Through a system, uncontrolled and wild.
We know God's in His heaven,
And that His heart is mighty large,
If He could save those folks from drowning,
Then reunions shouldn't be too hard.
Wise, kind, and caring people,
With the loving help of God,
Can bring those loved ones back together,
Despite all human odds.Pray for missing babes and mothers,
For lost wives and husbands, too;
Pray for all the misplaced persons,
We know what God can do.
~ Virginia (Ginny) Ellis ~
Copyright September 2005