Yesterday was a big milestone for our little family. Diana rode the bus to and from school for the first time. That may not seem like a big deal to most people, but after my experience as a child riding the bus for the first time, I had a lot of trepidation about how it would go.
We lived in a cute little neighborhood in a suburb outside of Annapolis, Maryland when I started school as a kindergartner. All the elementary school kids met at a common bus stop, and rode in together. I was thrilled to get to ride on the bus, especially with all the big kids. In the weeks leading up to school starting, my mom reminded me over and over how to navigate getting on and off the bus. Her biggest fear was that I would get off at the wrong stop. She warned me repeatedly not to get off until I was at the very same spot where I boarded the bus. It was a warning I took very seriously.
On the first day of school, my mom walked me to the bus stop, and watched as I bravely and confidently boarded bus #196. No tears for me, but my mom shed a few. (For the record, yesterday, I shed a few and Diana was the brave one!) I found my seat directly behind the bus driver, just like my mom instructed.
Almost forty years later, I still remember the bus driver named Ms. Mary, with her fabulous 80’s bangs and giant clear-rimmed glasses. She was always warm and welcoming, with the best smile in the county, and on that first day, she laid it on thick. I found out later that she was trying to make a really good impression so that we would remember her and get on the right bus at the end of the day.
When we got to school, there were lots of teachers and helpers guiding us how to get off the bus and to our classrooms. After a long successful first day, those same helpers got us all loaded back on the bus and sent us on our way. When I was in kindergarten, we only had half days so, the bus ride home was much emptier than the bus ride to school. Still, I followed my mom’s instructions. I found a seat behind the bus driver and settled in.
The rest of the kindergartners got off pretty quickly at the first few stops. After three stops, there was no one left for me to talk to, so I followed my mom’s instructions. I sat quietly, without disturbing the bus driver, and I waited for us to get to the same corner where I had boarded the bus. Ms. Mary put on some music, and we cruised down the road.
After a few songs played, Ms. Mary’s CB radio crackled. She turned down the music, and said, “Bus 196, come back.” The voice on the other end asked Mary if she had dropped off all of her passengers yet. Mary told them that she had and she was on her way back to the bus parking lot. The dispatcher thanked her and signed off. Just as Mary was about to hang up her radio, I popped my head up over the top of the seat and said, “But Ms. Mary, you haven’t dropped me off yet.” She almost veered off the road from me startling her so badly, but she regained her composure and came to a slow stop on the shoulder of the road.
MM, crouching down by my seat: “Honey, what are you doing on here?”
Me: “Just waiting for you to take me back to my stop. “
MM: “But, honey, I went to all the stops. Where were you supposed to get off? “
Me: “At the corner of Marine and Mermaid Drive.” (We lived in a neighborhood called Atlantis, and all the streets had nautical names.)
MM: “Sweetheart, I went to that stop. Why didn’t you get off? Your mom must be frantic.“
Me: “It was on the other side of the street, and my mom told me not to get off until I was at the very same spot.“
Turns out, I took mom’s instructions a little too literally. The afternoon route dropped off on the opposite corner from where it picked us up in the morning, and in my little kindergartner brain, that wasn’t the same spot. So, I stayed put.
My poor mother had indeed been standing there waiting for me to get off. Then, the bus doors closed and pulled away before she could get Ms. Mary’s attention. Since this was in the days before cell phones, my poor mother had to literally run a half-mile to our home with my four-year-old brother in tow, and call the school to find out what happened to me. About the same time that they were frantically searching the school to see if I had lingered behind, Ms. Mary radioed back to the dispatcher to inform them that she had a stowaway. It was quickly decided that we would go back to the school for my mom to retrieve me, and 20 minutes later, I was in the back seat of my very relieved mom’s car headed home. I am sure that was one of the scariest hours of her life!
Fast forward back to the present, I was very nervous for Diana’s first trip to school on the bus. I emailed her teacher to verify that all went well getting to school and got her assurance that everything had gone without a hitch. In the afternoon, I got to the bus stop a full 20 minutes earlier than I probably needed to, just to make sure that I could be there to retrieve her. When it finally arrived, child after child exited with no sign of Diana. I started to panic a little, but then, she finally emerged, yelling her goodbyes to her friends. It turns out she’s a lot like her momma - she can follow instructions, but she wants to make conversation first. I am sure somewhere my mom was looking down and got a little smile watching me panic for a minute too.
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