Kidnapped in Canada

I am hesitant to write about my day. The experience is still quite raw for me. But I know that eventually it will seem quite funny. It was for Eric. Maybe in a couple of days it will be funny to me too.

I woke up on Sunday feeling like I needed some "Mama Time." I know that I should have been excited to go to church to "fill up my cup" per say, but instead I decided to stay at home. I figured that by reading my scriptures and praying and resting that maybe the feeling would leave. I should have stopped right there . . . because I've learned that lesson before . . . it is always better just to go to church.

So soon after Eric left with Josie and Joshua I started to plan this exciting day to myself with the twins--my whole 3 hours. My mind went a little wild and I thought, "I really want to be out in nature. That will make me feel rejuvenated." Unfortunately with the winter weather, my usual options of the woods or lake didn't seem very appealing. What I really needed was the ocean (yes, no matter how hard I try, I'm still a Californian). I thought about driving to Silver Beach, but I didn't feel like driving for 2-3 hours. So then I thought, maybe I could find a closer beach on one of the Lakes. So my mind jumped to St. Clair in Ontario. . . .Yes, I know I should have just stopped there . . . I actually had this thought (or my "still small voice") whisper, "Don't go there, just get ready and go church late" . . . but little me didn't listen.

So I filled up a grocery bag full of food, my scriptures, diapers and wipes and loaded up the boys and left. I drove around Detroit for a while and ended up site seeing all the slums that make up a major portion of the city. My stars, it is amazing how great you can feel about your own life when you see all the devastation of poverty going on there. But it's not like I'm feeling bad about my life. I really, really love my life. I was just numb . . . so after a little driving I decided to head to the tunnel--find my little oasis in St. Clair . . . feel grounded again and come home.

Driving through the Detroit-Windsor tunnel worried me a bit. The road leading back was filled with cars not moving an inch, so I decided that I would probably just stay in St. Clair for a while till the traffic died down on the road back. I made it to the boarder where the immigration officer started asking me a bunch of questions as she reviewed my drivers licence (which is still a Utah licence from two moves ago).

"Where are you going in Canada?"

"Just driving around. I thought I'd check out St. Clair beach?"

"Why do you want to go there?"

"Just need to get away for a little while," I respond, which seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

"Do you have anyone driving with you?" she asks as she is looking at the twins in the back seat.

"Just my two little boys," I answer.

The officers voice immediately changes and she asks in this forceful tone, "Why do you need to get away?"

All the sudden I feel nervous and defensive, and I say, "I've had a long week. I just thought driving around Canada would help me relax."

"Where are their birth certificates?" she asks.

At this point I feel like screaming. Of course I didn't bring them, or their S.S. cards, or their passports. I'm driving around Canada for heaven's sake. . . not Europe! I tell her I don't have any identification for the twins.

As you can imagine things got really, really messy from here. I get pulled in the immigration office, questioned by 3 different people . . . all thinking I am kidnapping these baby boys. They repeatedly tell me I should have brought identification. "Yes," I feel like screaming, "I know that now!"

After a very long processes, they decided to let me enter Canada, because I think, they felt bad for me and I really didn't want to drive back in the tunnel with that traffic yet. But the whole thing was so upsetting I decided to forget St. Clair, find a parking lot across the street, nurse, change diapers, and head home. It took 90 minutes to get back through the tunnel, thanks to a dog show in Detroit. I finally see sunlight at the end of the tunnel and breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that I'm almost home.

At the boarder I give the officer my diver's licence and start answering questions again.

"Just going home," I say.

"Where is home?"

"Ann Arbor."

"Why do you have a Utah driver's licence?" . . . . . ."Why didn't you bring your babies identification?"

"AHHH" I feel like screaming! I just went through this! I just want to go home. So, yes, I got to do through the whole thing again, just worse because Americans are so tightly wound since 9-11.

Five hours after I left to rejuvenate, I am home. Eric greeted me at the door smiling. The only reason the officers let me come back to the US was because they called Eric and he described me and the babies over the phone. The officer asked him if there was any reason that I would be leaving with the babies. Eric told him that I probably just needed a drive.

I'm going to sleep now. Hopefully in the morning this will all seem funny and I'll feel better.

P.S. So, it looks like paragraphing isn't working.