Bus Ride

I carpool to and from school with two of my girlfriends. Our motto is, "No kid left behind", although it has happened. During the school year all three of us have had "family issues" affecting our carpool schedule. Cynthia and I both work from home while Jane, who is a stay at home mom, volunteers enough to equal anyone's busy schedule. Recently we had to revamp our carpool schedule to get us through school year. I attempted, even began putting it on an excel spreadsheet, to readjust our driving duties. Interrupted by numerous calls, appointments, school and family activities, I failed to get it completed. Gratefully I passed it off to Jane to figure out. Within a couple of days, Jane returned back to us the sheet of paper with new driving schedules and at the bottom of the paper the formula in how she determined who was driving when. It looked fine to me so I called Cynthia to see if it looked alright to her. She didn't quite like it and as we hung up we decided we'd just keep our old schedule. Soon my husband arrived home, I showed him the schedule and told him about my conversation with Cynthia. He said, "This is a great schedule and you should call her back to see if she understands she drives less."

My first random thought was; I am spending so much time on this blasted carpool schedule...to...there are starving people in the world and we are concerned about this crazy carpool schedule. URG! Then a revelation came to me, THE BUS. Lets just put the kids on the bus. The kids will be last on the bus on the way to school and first off on the way home. Quickly I called Cynthia and Jane, they were in agreement. The following day I called the bus barn to schedule a bus pickup for the children. Done, they're scheduled. Yippee!

The next morning Gracie and I had our usual morning: coffee, breakfast, devotion and a quick game of Yahtzee. We got all of our stuff ready for the jaunt down our 1/3 mile driveway to catch the bus. I could tell Gracie was feeling some butterflies about riding the bus for the first time.

I remember my bus driver, Randy Johnson. He was so strong he picked up a car blocking the road which was stuck in the snow and moved it out of the way. All the kids had their faces smashed up against the window ooing and awwing. All the girls on the bus thought he was the most handsome thing they'd ever seen. As Randy drove our bus down the road, periodically looking up in his mirror to check on the kids, he'd have about 10 seats FULL of girls smiling dreamingly and waving back at him. He would flash a grin and keep on driving. Since all the seats up front were taken by the others girls, I had to sit in the back of the bus by that mean "Barry" boy. I threatened Barry every inch of his life that if he ever laid a hand on me I would clean his clock. With my teeth grit together I would say, "Barry you get near me and I'll clean your clock". I guess I made a believer out of him because he never bothered me, although down deep inside I wasn't sure if I could clean his clock.

Unsure of the exact arrival time of the bus, Gracie and I were ten minutes early which gave us time to talk about which seat she was going to chose. She decided she'd just sit in the front close to the door. Good choice! Soon the bus arrived and since it was the first time for it to stop at our driveway, all the kids stood as if they were giving Gracie a standing ovation for getting on the bus. Gracie's bus driver is a sweet Grandpa, Mr. Jim. The bus stayed still until Gracie chose her seat...at the back of the bus. I slowly turned around trying not to look obvious, but wanting to see Gracie. The bus STOP sign was pulled in and the bus slowly took off. With a smile on her face as big as the United States, there Gracie was waving goodbye from the back of the bus.

I hope Gracie's bus experience is as memorable as mine was and if she does meet a "Barry" boy I know what our next discussion will be as we travel down the driveway to meet the bus.

Let them eat cookies

Last year my father in law passed away from lung cancer. Through the course of four months all of us kids would take turns driving to Kansas City to take care of him while Mom worked. As his body shape changed because of the cancer, his energy level plummeted and the pain intensified so did the craving for cookies. We were so concerned for his well being and health we would only give him cookies after he ate a good meal.

One day while while I was caring for him, he decided he wanted egg drop soup for lunch. Off I went to Golden Eggroll for the soup. Upon my return he was still sitting at the table waiting to eat. I hurriedly got it ready and placed it in front of him. I sat across from him, staring, waiting for him to take his first slurp. For some reason I felt this overwhelming urge to just tell him how much I love him. So I did. There was a long silence.

Lee, aka Dad, Grandpa, fix-it man, Macgyver, etc., was always positive. Rarely do you meet someone who always sees the glass 1/2 full. He did. He was the life of the party, entering the room with a big "HELLO" and bunches of hugs. He would chase the little children around the room until he'd catch them and "booge" - tickle them until their laughter was so hard it would turn to silence and their faces were red. He was one of a kind.

After our long silence, he looked up at me and said, "You know what I think?" With all the attention I could give him, I waited for his next words. "I don't think I feel good anymore and I don't want this soup". He got up from the table and stumbled to his bed. Now sitting alone at the table looking at his soup bowl full of soup I began to cry. At that moment, I knew Dad wasn't going to live much longer and one thing needed to change.

I got up from the table, went to the pantry and got a brand new box of cookies out. With the box of cookies in hand I went to his bedroom and asked, "Would you like some cookies?" Without looking at me, he nodded yes. I sat at his bedside while he ate several cookies, cleaned up the crumbs and let him rest.

This taught me a valuable lesson. At times in life and especially if you're caring for someone, things aren't normal and well, just can't be. Life is short and at different seasons can be extremely short, therefore let them eat cookies. Sit and enjoy a cookie with them. Hold their hand, kiss them on the head and cheek, hug them as much as possible and tell them how much you love them.

After mine and Dad's table moment I began scooping out ice cream and placing it in a cup so when he would wake up in the night it would be ready for him in the freezer. I also started putting cookies in a zip lock bag and placing it under his pillow so all he had to do is grab it in the night.

I miss him and am so thankful we had our cookie times together.