I would like to thank the Vermont State Police and rescue workers of Hancock and neighboring areas who helped look for my son when he had gotten lost while hiking on Oct. 10, and who brought him home when he was found the morning of Oct. 11. I am grateful not only for their effort and time, which included a sleepless night for many, but for their kindness. When, after hearing about the event two weeks later, I asked my son if he had been afraid while alone in the woods that night, he said, “I was worried that everybody would be mad at me.” Instead, he experienced only kindness and concern, and no anger or irritation.

The only troubling element in the story my son recounted is that he said he had encountered a camper at about dusk, but when he tried to ask her where he was, she told him to go away. I cannot blame a woman who is alone in the woods for being wary of a man who approaches; perhaps she had experienced trauma in the past, as many women have. I consider myself more than blessed to have two adult sons who, each over six feet tall, are all heart and muscle. Any fear I used to have, of big burly men, has been replaced by an assumption that men, especially young men, are kind and good. Neither of my sons has an aggressive bone in their bodies, and unlike their mother, they don’t even swear.

When my babies were born, a quote was circulating that “Making a decision to have a child … is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body” (Elizabeth Stone). This remains true into their adulthood, so for all who helped to bring Tom home, and for his father’s care, I will be forever grateful.

Barbara Walter

“Tom’s mom”

Burlington