The wipers kept swiping back and forth against the glass of the vehicle. The second the rain hit them, it would get thrown towards the sides of the old yellow bus. Despite loving the happiness a child’s smile brought into her life, the mornings were pretty rough on Jenny. Some days were really tough, though. But when she saw the little ones walking down the street, she would’ve never imagined she would encounter so much happiness on that dark morning.
Cindy didn’t expect much for herself when she was a little twelve-year-old girl. She had been passed on from foster home to foster home, eight times in the span of a year. Now she was a rebellious teenager. She knew couples usually go for cute little babies, but this time, things were looking up for the teen. They weren’t sending her to a young and naive couple’s home. She was going somewhere else, and she had zero clue about what was coming next.
Cindy couldn’t believe what she was seeing. She walked up the cracky steps of this tiny pastel blue bungalow, only to realize that this was it. This was her new home. She’d always dreamed of living in a beautiful white-picket fence house, but this house was everything she could’ve wanted and more. The social worker nodded and let her know it was okay to ring the doorbell. “You better be on your best behavior, madame,” she told her. Cindy wasn’t too happy to hear that, and she was tensing up, ready to fight. But when the door was opened, she was left speechless.
There was an older woman standing in the hallway. She was staring at Cindy and the social worker, with a wide grin across her face. Her wrinkled old hands were holding on to a wicker walking sticks. Cindy took a few steps back, and stared right back. Her heart was pounding hard. She recognized the woman! “Hello, Cindy.” Her voice was definitely familiar too. “You’ve no idea how much I’ve missed you,” she said. Then suddenly, everything faded into black.
The teen could hear a soft, caring voice asking her, “Cindy, love, are you alright?” She opened her doors only to see the same woman staring at her. That’s when tears started coming. She couldn’t believe it! “Grandma?” she asked the old woman as she gave her the biggest hug you can imagine. She thought she’d never be able to see her again. After all this time, they had finally found each other. But her nana, Anna, would soon realize just how rough their separation was on the young girl.
Cindy’s mom wasn’t a horrible person, she was just involved in unfortunate circumstances. Plus, hanging around the wrong crowd didn’t help. Whenever Cindy’s grandmother tried to help, she would ruffle a few feathers, only for Cindy’s mom to pack her things and leave in the middle of the night. Anna even went to the police station for six months. She was there every single day, refusing to give up on her granddaughter. She needed to know if she was safe in the care of her mother. Soon enough, she started visiting the station once a week. She kept talking to social workers and inquiring about Cindy, but she could’ve never imagined her own daughter would be so careless.
Cindy was starting to settle into her new life, but Anna quickly realized there was something wrong after Cindy’s first day of school. She kept procrastinating, and doing anything she could do to avoid doing her homework. She would clean the table, make tea, fold the laundry and even claim she didn’t have any homework. That’s when Anna realized that Cindy wasn’t able to read or write. Sadly, she had been so neglected, she was at a 2nd-grade educational level. But Anna wasn’t about to let that stop her from becoming all she could be.
Anna got Cindy out of the school system, and decided to homeschool the teen. “It’s no good, I’m just stupid!” she would complain here and there. Anna wasn’t allowed to be in her life when she was younger, but now she was going to make sure she’d do anything in her power to help her beloved granddaughter. She was patient and perseverant, and soon enough, Cindy started catching up. She was even able to return to school the following year, but their luck was about to run out.
Unfortunately, Cindy discovered her grandmother had passed away when she returned home, during her final days of senior year. She was truly heartbroken, but she knew she would make something of herself and make her proud. She started working as a bus driver, attending lessons in between classes, but she was still grieving her grandma. She was tired of going back to an empty home. One day, she saw a couple of kids waiting in the rain.
Cindy pulled over right next to them and let the kids get inside the bus. She favored those two little kids in particular, as they often warmed her heart with their kindness. She had enough of focusing on the negative things in life, and she knew that some kids were also dealing with some serious hardships themselves. Cindy wrote a note the night before, and slipped it into a little girl’s backpack as she was stepping off the bus. But she would’ve never imagined she’d respond in such a way.
As Sally read the note, she couldn’t help herself from feeling moved. “I am compelled to write to tell you how beautiful your children are, inside and out! This can only come from the home, your patience and guidance, the examples that you set and teach.” She went on to add, “I have a child on my bus named Jackson. Both of your children have shown him compassion and support. Every day your children ask if they can sit with Jackson.” But that wasn’t all!
“Sometimes Jackson is a little sad getting on the bus but as soon as he sees Annaliese and Jorge, he smiles. Jackson has difficulties walking and it takes a bit for him to get to his seat. Today Annaliese looked out from around her and said, ‘come on, Jackson. You can do it.’” Cindy is going through some major heartache herself, but her faith in the world was restored thanks to the kindness of these two beautiful angels.
“And when we arrived at school, Jorge took it upon himself to carry his backpack! I know you know how wonderful your children are, but I wanted you to know that it shows!” Sally wanted to let Leonor and Jorge Jr. know they had raised some amazing kids. But she didn’t know her little letter would have such an impact.
Jorge Sr. and Leonor were completely taken by surprise when they read Sally’s letter. They had no idea their kids were capable of being so kind and compassionate! They were familiar with what she was experiencing herself. The little kids would often bring her flowers, and smile whenever they ran into her. But Sally had no idea that their parents would do something like this!
Jorge Sr. and Leonor were incredibly moved by Sally’s letter, which is why they decided the world needed to know about it. They posted it online, and much to their surprise, their post garnered thousands of likes and shares. Everyone was praising Sally. Everyone was thrilled to learn that there’s so much kindness in the world today. Bus 50 is evidently a save place that allows kids to support one another, so let’s just hope they keep spreading positivity and love for many years to come!