Remembering a Special Couple

The county fair begins tonight with the pageant for Miss Shenandoah. We drove by the fairgrounds last night and saw the midway going up. It gave me a little thrill remembering the days when  I anticipated a visit to an amusement park with joy. It also reminded me of a couple who were important to me when I was in 8th grade.

I met Bob first. He drove the school bus from Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish school. In fact, he drove two routes, taking the first group home and returning to school for the second run. He was tall and thin with a receding hairline and a mustache. I can see him now in my memory, a gentle, soft-spoken man. I always sat in the front seat and I usually rode the first bus run as well as my own second route since I was on the safety patrol. You remember right? - the students who went out with a flag to make sure children crossed the street safely. I had a long time to chat with Bob on those two bus runs.

Bob and his wife, Jeanette, never had the children they wished for. Like Gilbert and Francis Chesterton, they chose to share their lives with other people's children and became special friends to me and two of my sisters. They took us to Atlantic City and to Hershey Park and other places I don't remember. They loved amusement parks and shared their enthusiasm with three young girls who enjoyed every minute of our outings. I hope we gave them as much joy as they gave us. 

I went off to high school and college, but continued to exchange letters and Christmas cards. Bob and Jeanette came to our wedding driving down from Pennsylvania to my parents' parish in Elkridge, MD. What a blessing to have them there!

After Bob died, I continued to send and receive Christmas cards from Jeanette. How I wish I'd taken the time to go see her and share memories, but it was the busy time of life rearing children with all the time challenges and obligations that entails. 

I was not a particularly confident teenager. Bob made me feel important and grownup as we chatted every day on the bus. He never talked down to me, but always treated me with respect as if what I had to say was worth listening to. How grateful I am for that relationship that helped to form me at that challenging time of life.

May we never take for granted and be ungrateful for those relationships that lasted for a time. Bob and Jeanette were the good samaritans reaching out to me on the road to adulthood. I will be forever grateful for the gift of knowing them.