Unexpected Fun
I recently saw my beloved bus driver who took me and my sister to school 18 years ago. It's funny how someone you haven't seen in nearly two decades can suddenly trigger memories you thought were long forgotten. In my opinion, Lee was and is the best bus driver anyone could ask for, and I was so pleasantly surprised to see him pass by--older, but still the same sweet guy, bringing a smile to everyone around him.
When I was 9 (and maybe when I was 8 as well...those years tend to run together) I was lucky enough to be able to take the bus to school each morning. Now, normally taking the bus would not be seen by many as something that makes you lucky, but I had something that most other kids didn't - I had the best bus driver I could ever ask for.
On top of his cheery disposition, patience, and obvious love of his job, Lee stood out from the rest because he would always play games. Each morning Lee would give us trivia questions to answer on our way to school, mixing up the difficulty based on our ages and interests. Sometimes he even gave us candy when we got the questions right! There are few things I love to do more than play games, which has been true of me my whole life. I wasn't the only one who loved playing Lee's games each day - every student enjoyed the ride. Even on our bad days, it seemed like Lee knew just what to do to cheer us up. It was evident how much he cared about each and every one of us. He made going to school safe and fun, two things that school, for me, definitely was not. I have a lot of painful memories of school, but I also have so many wonderful memories of riding the school bus.
I made eye contact with Lee when I saw him the other day and I couldn't help but smile, and he of course smiled at me, but in a way that made me wonder if perhaps he remembered who I was. I wish I would have told him that I remembered him from all of those years ago. I wish I told him how much it meant to me that he made going to school a fun experience. I wish I told him how glad I was to know that after all these years there are still kids that are lucky enough to have him as their bus driver.
I hope that I can have that same kind of impact on others. I hope that someday, someone will think back and remember something I did to make their life a little bit better. I hope that after 18 years, someone will remember my name and say that I made their day a little more fun, and made them feel a little more safe. And I hope that more kids are lucky enough to have people like Lee in their life - people who really care about them and never stop bringing a smile to their faces.
I recently saw my beloved bus driver who took me and my sister to school 18 years ago. It's funny how someone you haven't seen in nearly two decades can suddenly trigger memories you thought were long forgotten. In my opinion, Lee was and is the best bus driver anyone could ask for, and I was so pleasantly surprised to see him pass by--older, but still the same sweet guy, bringing a smile to everyone around him.
When I was 9 (and maybe when I was 8 as well...those years tend to run together) I was lucky enough to be able to take the bus to school each morning. Now, normally taking the bus would not be seen by many as something that makes you lucky, but I had something that most other kids didn't - I had the best bus driver I could ever ask for.
On top of his cheery disposition, patience, and obvious love of his job, Lee stood out from the rest because he would always play games. Each morning Lee would give us trivia questions to answer on our way to school, mixing up the difficulty based on our ages and interests. Sometimes he even gave us candy when we got the questions right! There are few things I love to do more than play games, which has been true of me my whole life. I wasn't the only one who loved playing Lee's games each day - every student enjoyed the ride. Even on our bad days, it seemed like Lee knew just what to do to cheer us up. It was evident how much he cared about each and every one of us. He made going to school safe and fun, two things that school, for me, definitely was not. I have a lot of painful memories of school, but I also have so many wonderful memories of riding the school bus.
I made eye contact with Lee when I saw him the other day and I couldn't help but smile, and he of course smiled at me, but in a way that made me wonder if perhaps he remembered who I was. I wish I would have told him that I remembered him from all of those years ago. I wish I told him how much it meant to me that he made going to school a fun experience. I wish I told him how glad I was to know that after all these years there are still kids that are lucky enough to have him as their bus driver.
I hope that I can have that same kind of impact on others. I hope that someday, someone will think back and remember something I did to make their life a little bit better. I hope that after 18 years, someone will remember my name and say that I made their day a little more fun, and made them feel a little more safe. And I hope that more kids are lucky enough to have people like Lee in their life - people who really care about them and never stop bringing a smile to their faces.
You should develop a board game called Lee's Trivia - you'd both be credited in the name - in which each player would have a game piece of a little bus in a different color. Whenever you correctly answered a trivia question, you could choose to move your bus a square on the board, or receive a piece of candy. I would never get anywhere.
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