The Big Yellow School Bus

My youngest child is fascinated with school buses. When he spots one, he is sure to tell you that he saw one no fewer that 3 times. Dropping the older kids off at school brings him to a frantic state. Always finding a teachable moment, I've taken to counting the buses that are lined up in front of the elementary school as we drive past. 17 in total, in case you are interested. Pretty soon he'll learn that there are other numbers besides 2. This morning was no exception. While I was counting, some child in the back was reading off the numbers that are painted onto the front and back of each bus. When she got to "19" it sent me into a tailspin. I was suddenly back in NJ.

Though my memory is very foggy on events from... shudder... 25 years ago, I feel certain that I rode bus number 19 at some point. After much pondering, I think that it was Mrs. Gertsen's bus. All I really remember is that her toddlers rode in the front seat and the last day of school she played a vacation song over and over and over. It could have been the Go-gos, but I'm leaning toward a different song. I've no idea who sang it but it spelled out the word vacation and went something like this. (Bear with me. I'm masterful at mixing lyrics.)

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N, that's the song I sing.

I don't remember any other words. I feel that there weren't any other words. How Mrs. Gertsen must have rejoiced at the advent of the CD player with a repeat button!

All the school bus nostalgia brought me back to the bus driver before Mrs. Gertsen. I think her name was Christine and she was called Chris. If that's not correct, I feel certain that it was some androgynous name. That was a brand new bus. The kind with the very high seats. You couldn't see over them and had to stick your head out in the aisle to see around them. The seat backs were covered in glamorous vinyl, which I so preferred to the metal ones with "Thomas" printed on them. I guess I used to read like my 5 year old - making the quickest possible association that contained at least some if the actual letters from the word. It is truly embarrassing how long I thought that they said thermos.

I used to sit with a girl whose name escapes me. Again, I'm leaning toward Christine. (Yes, there is a very strong possibility that someone was named Christine and it was neither the driver nor the seatmate.) I remember her as very skinny, curly hair a la Richard Simmons, and an avid reader. I think that she loaned me Call of the Wild, or some Jack London book, that I never read. I used to hate reading and never read a book for pleasure until at least college. (In case you didn't get that from the bus bench reference.) I wonder if I ever returned the book?

All these memories for me and my kids and I both prefer that I drive them to and from school. We use our time wisely: counting, spelling, and learning Latin vocabulary. I'm hopeful that down the road they will remember more about our time together than I do about the numerous hours I logged on the bus.