By: Brenda Wilkrson
I was waiting to load up for a field trip at the school I had driven for during my first three years. I waited eagerly in hopes of seeing some of my bus babies I hadn’t seen in over a year.
A little blonde-haired, freckle-faced six-year-old boy I had nicknamed Baby Shark stared up the steps and into the eyes of his very first bus driver he ever had since he was three. His eyebrows raised, his mouth opened. As he slowly climbed up the steps, he asked, “Are you my bus driver?” My heart was giddy as I responded, “I sure am, buddy! How are you?” But before I could get the second question out, he buried his little head in my shirt and begin to weep. “Where did you go? Where were you?” Hugging him tight, I replied, “I got a job at a different school. I still love you; you know that right?” He unburied his teary face, looked me in the eyes and with a hoarse tiny voice said, “I didn’t know!”
Fighting back unexpected tears, I squeezed him so tight and assured him that I always have and always will forever love him so very much. As the other children were passing by the captain’s chair to find their seats, one of his classmates stopped and asked, “Are you his mommy?” Honored to be asked that question, I replied, “No, I’m just his bus driver.” Pulling his tear streaked face out of my shirt, he gave me a solid stare with his red eyes, then smiled and turned to go find his seat with friends.
Lord, thank You once again for placing me right exactly here. Every single day, I am keenly aware that You carefully placed me here on this earth, in this time, in this community, at these schools, with Your bus babies. Thank You for the opportunity to serve You in this way.
~Brenda Wilkerson
