Some People Have a Gift for Helping, Remembering
Curtis Jenkins is a bus driver. And a very happy man. He looks upon his job as important, and that decision–to grab on to his bus-driver identity and make something of it– colors his entire world.
WHAT CURTIS HAS CHOSEN TO DO
During the school year, he gives a present to each kid, something that after he gets to know them, he knows they will need and love.
He believes sincerely that while these children are in his care, he is totally responsible for their lives and their hearts. Driving his bus is his calling.
He’s decided to spend part of his salary purchasing a gift for each child. He talks to them, finds out about the emptiness in their lives and does what he can to fill up that emptiness.
He gave one student a bike!
He also assigns each child a position on the bus, so that they form a family that helps one another. One boy proudly said he is the administration assistant. The kids on the bus form a social organization, each child knowing every other child and often their needs, strengths and weaknesses. They have learned to help and protect one another. There are no fights or quarrels.
THE REWARDS OF A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Curtis took on this role and blazed an unusual path. I know there are others like him, men and women who care about children and who smile through the noise and craziness that often is the major experience of the bus ride.
In my years as a teacher, I was blessed to know men and women whose devotion to their students did not end when the bell rang at three o’clock. Though teachers need to provide a responsible barrier between themselves and their students, the ability to encourage, to listen, to applaud, and to discipline with well chosen words can be the difference between a student who learns and succeeds and one who falls behind, drops out, gets lost.
Curtis represents a special love and dedication. One of his riders, a young boy named Ethan, states that the bus ride is the best part of his day. “He’s the father I always wanted. I wish my Dad could have been like Curtis.”
This story appeared on ABC’s Sunday Morning, a great show if you have the time.
PS ARE WE LIVING IN A TIME WHEN WE ARE UNABLE TO REACH OUT, HELP OTHERS?
One cure for opening our hearts to others is to open our memories at the same time. If yours are filled with protection, love and care–then you will want to go there, think about snow forts and tree forts; boat trips and walking the dog with a parent; family get-togethers with cousins or the close friend you wished was your sister, your brother. Bike rides, ball games, ice skating or river rafting. Wherever you were raised, whatever you did, pulling those memories closer can make a hectic day or a lonely day much sweeter.
I enjoy reading a column every Saturday in the LA TIMES that is written by Chris Erskine.
He’s an amazing story teller who can pull me back in time with only a few words, put a smile on my face, encourage me to keep writing my own Memoir about growing up in Chicago. Chris tosses out memories in just a few words: Schwin bikes, Bactine, Mickey Mouse Club, reading Little Women, or anything by Hemingway. He once wrote that Los Angeles can feel like a college dorm: Where you from? What’s your major? (job)
And then Chris comes back to Chicago, which is his HOMETOWN too. He writes: “Hometown: I just like the sound of it—sonorous and acoustic. A bow across life’s cello.”
Have a lovely week, Beth
PHOTO; Thanks to Neighborhoods.com
