School Days

After numerous emails and phone calls last night and this morning, I'm hapy to report that the children of friends and co-workers all had a great, drama-free first day of school.  There were no reports of tears or nervous stomachs, thank goodness.  Other than a couple of school bus issues, the first day of school went well.  It brings to mind my first day of school.

Actually, it was my first day in the first grade.  I had gone to kindergarten the year before, but this was my first day going to Big School on the Big Bus.  The ride to school was smoothe and uneventful. The bus came right on time, picked me up at the end of the driveway, and deposited me safe and sound at Greenwood Elementary.  Once there, Miss Stucker, my first grade teacher, took over and made sure I had a safe and fun first day of school.  When the bell rang, it was time to reverse the process and head back home.  Or so I thought.  I remembered what the bus driver looked like and found her and got on her bus, ready for the trip home. What should have been a 15 minute jaunt slowly evolved into a two hour trip. You see, I assumed that the bus driver knew where I lived.  She didn't. She must have had bad periphreal vision, because she didn't see me sitting there about 6 rows back behind her.  So I got to ride around Pleasure Ridge Park for two long hours, while she picked up students at another school and took them home.  I didn't panic; I was just enjoying the ride. At one point I did wonder if it was going to take this long to get home every day.  When her last riders were dropped off, she finally looked back and saw me and then she was the one to panic.  This was in the days before cell phones, and even before the buses used CB radios.  She drove to a payphone and let me call home to let them know where I was.  By now, my parents and grandparents were also panicking.  Thank goodness I knew my phone number.  And thank goodness I knew my address.  Or else I might have never made it home.