Four kids is no easy work, especially at a park as large as Disney World.  

When I was told my family was taking a trip to Disney World on a cold Christmas morning, I was beyond excited. Little did I know what would happen at the overwhelmingly large park.  I packed my large suitcase and we left that morning after Christmas day.  

As I boarded the plane my stomach churned.  The nerves rose from my feet up to my chest.  I took the middle seat in between my two parents.  The sound of babies crying mixing with the flight attendants' sharp voice overwhelmed me.  This was the first plane ride I had ever been on.  I was as scared as a baby bird taking flight for the first time.  My parents calmed me down and we talked about all the different rides there were.  We talked about all the different shows there were.  All of the food to eat.   We had been on the plane for about an hour and a half.  My mom showed me the sky from outside the plane window.  The clouds looked like the cotton candy I would get at Disney World.  Hours later, we got to our hotel.  I was exhausted so I went to bed, excited for the day ahead of me.  

When we got to Disney World the morning after, I realized how big and crowded the place was.  After we got in, we split up into two groups.  My mom taking my little sister and my older brother to one part of the park, and my dad taking my twin and I to another part.  We went on a few rides and headed towards a special mini show called Peter Pan’s Flight.  

We were about 20 minutes into the show and I was very bored, so bored I felt as if I were watching paint dry.  As I watched the grown man dressed as Peter Pan gallop across the stage like a ballerina, something caught my eye.  I saw a Cotton Candy stand.  I had been craving the delicious treat since I was first told we were going to Disney World.  I walked over to go look at the stand, neither my dad nor brother noticing I left.  The fluffy treats were color-dyed clouds.  I was just about to go ask my dad if he could buy me some when I saw him walking out of the stand.  I stood there wondering if he had forgotten about me.  Being one of my dad’s four kids I figured it might not be too hard to forget about me.  I ran towards where I saw him.  Looking for his new grey mickey mouse t-shirt, khaki shorts and flip-flops, I couldn’t find him.  I ran to the right of where I came from running past strangers and Disney World Staff.  I scanned my surroundings looking for my dad. Nothing to my left.  Nothing to my right. I took one last look in front of me and I saw the backside of a man around 6 feet, wearing the same shirt my dad was wearing.  I ran yelling for him with tears in my eyes.  I hugged him relieved.  There was nothing I wanted more in that moment than to see my dad’s face.  I was never gonna leave his side again.  The man turned around and to my great surprise, it was not my dad.  He had a full beard covering most of his neck and he was not wearing the hat my dad was.  I was shocked.  The tears came rushing back as fast as the whitewater rapids.  The man had a very confused look on his face.  Although, he quickly understood what was going on.  

I talked to him for a bit and shortly after he brought me to the lost children area.  I told the people there my dad's number and shortly after my entire family came rushing over.  My mom with tears running down her cheeks.  I could see it in the way my dad ran over to me that he was very worried.  The man that I thought was my dad had a large smile painted across his face.   He told me his name was Marc Sullivan. In the short time that I talked to him, he told me he had one son and he was off at college.  He told me that with a very depressed look on his face.  It saddened me knowing that I would be away from my family, off at college.  My mom hugged me with a tight squeeze.  My little sister was confused, my twin brother was laughing. Looking back now, I should’ve been smarter about the way I immediately panicked. I was so lucky that Mr. Sullivan helped me find my family.  After a short conversation between him and my parents, catching up on the most boring things, we said thank you and goodbye.  As we left Disney World that day, I promised myself to always pay close attention to my surroundings.