Abandoned

Our family had a lake house in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. We practically lived at the lake house each summer and spent most of our days fishing, skiing, tubing, and swimming in Lake Elizabeth. One weekend, my parents had invited some friends (and their three children) to stay for a couple of days. We had all been out on the boat for an entire day when my dad realized we needed to refuel.

Lake Elizabeth has a gas station right on the pier so that you can pull up and fill up without leaving the boat. I stepped out of the boat onto the pier and quickly ran to the bathroom inside the building while my dad refueled.
When I stepped back outside, I looked toward the water to see our boat speeding away from the pier. My worst nightmare had come true. I felt helpless. I had to think quickly. I ran to the end of the pier and started shouting, "Mom! Dad! Come back!" As a seven year-old, it seemed like the only logical thing to do.

I suddenly looked to my left and, as if they were my guardian angels, an elderly couple started shouting toward the water and waving their hands in the air to grab my family's attention. My parents were already out of sight when my mother counted heads and realized that I was missing. Terrified, they turned around and returned to the pier to find me traumatized in the arms of my new elderly friends.

Apparently we were told to stay in the boat. I must not have heard those directions.

For years afterwards, I couldn't trust my parents. I felt as if they would leave me in strange places. It got so bad that when I went into a public restroom, I made my mother stand on the outside of the stall door with her nose pressed against it so that I could see her feet. This visual would reassure me that she wasn't going anywhere. She said that she received many stares from other women in the restroom. Now that's love.