Losing and Saving Grace

I had a terrible week. Things were just not going my way. Little things, stupid, trivial things.
Then I lost Grace.
I was in the Thomas Store and turned around for a minute and she was gone. With Norah on my shoulder, I start to look up and down the aisles quickly to see if I could catch a glimpse of her little body. But I couldn't.
I asked Jay quietly to help me look for her. He starts yelling, "Gracie! Gracie!" I start looking up and down the aisles more thoroughly to see if I could catch a glimpse of her little curls. But I couldn't.
I ask the sales girl if she could see my little girl. But she couldn't.
I ran out the front door, I looked around for her little face, but I didn't see her.
She couldn't have gotten too far, could she?
Another sales girl runs out to the very busy parking lot and is searching for my baby girl in jeans and a turquoise long-sleeve shirt.
I'm terrified. I'm panicking. Please God, help me find her! Please God, don't let anything bad happen to her!
Could someone have taken her? Who was in the store with us? Anyone suspicious?
Did she follow that nice lady with the little girl out of the store? The one's who had the Jamba Juices? Is she all alone? Scared?
There are two girls sitting on the curb. Did they see Grace? They're staring at me. They would have said something by now, right? Should I ask them if they have seen my precious daughter? ASK THEM!
Have you seen a little girl?
Yes, she went into Mervyn's.
Yes!?
Yes, she was carrying two purses.
That's her! That's my Gracie!! I run down the walkway, and into Mervyn's. There she was. Looking at the pretty silk shirts. I yell, Gracie! She looks at me and says, Hi Mama! I'm still holding Norah and for half a second think that I couldn't pick her up, could I? Then the realization of the moment hits me and I picked her up and hugged her tight. I walk back to where Jayden was, we return the purses she had unknowingly shoplifted, and we head to the car.
I tell Grace to never walk away from me again, to which she says, OHKAY!
Looking back I try to see a lesson in all of this. Could I have watched her better? Sure. Could I have gotten that stroller out of the back of my car and strapped her in it? Sure. Could I have waited for Adam to get home? Sure.
In the end, (and a tearful night of 'what if's?') I think the biggest lesson I learned was how much I love my family. How much this little person means to me. How I never want to lose it again.
My week just didn't seem so bad after all.