Lately I have been thinking about the man who drove my school bus when I was young.  I think his name was Don but I’m not quite sure.  He was older, probably retired from another job, and I would be surprised if he is still alive.  I’d be even more surprised if he remembered me but I definitely remember him.

Me in 9th grade

My family moved when I was in junior high.  While we were in the same town and I would be attending the same schools it was still a hard move for me.  Everything is extra hard in junior high isn’t it?  All of my friends now lived on the north end of town, I lived on the south and none of us could drive.

My old neighborhood was far away from the school so I rode the bus everyday.  My new neighborhood was much closer and I can’t remember how I was supposed to get home from school but I know I wasn’t supposed to ride the same bus.  Obviously it was only for those who lived on its route which wasn’t anywhere close to where I now lived.  All of the buses would pick the kids up from the junior high and then go to the high school to pick up the high school kids and then continue on their routes.

My new house was only a block away from the high school and I know he wasn’t supposed to, because I was told that I couldn’t do it, but Don let me ride my old bus with my friends every day.  I would get on at the junior high and ride the to high school where he would let me off and I would walk home.  It is such a simple thing but it helped me through a hard time in my life.

When I got into high school I was on the girls soccer team and Don was the one to drive us to most of our away games.  I remember him watching our games and congratulating us on wins and being sorry when we lost.  It just seemed like he cared.

Don didn’t do anything most would consider great.  He was a bus driver but here I am 20 years later and I still remember him.  I remember the nice things he did for me and the ways he helped me during a hard time of my life.  It has really made me realize that we never know how we are influencing the lives of those around us and who will remember us in 20 years and be grateful for the small part we played in their life.