Friends are forever

Did you ever notice that no matter where you are...that's where your friends are too? I love that about good friends, they don't hurt you, they don't threaten you, they don't bad-mouth you, they are just there. Right where you need them to be, right when you need them! Even during storms in our lives. God bless our true friends.



Work is going well and now that we're 3 weeks into it, my school bus route is finally settled down into a smooth routine. My bus monitor was out of town and off work for the week due to a death in the family and I had the most wonderful, happy experience! My sub-monitor was a mature lady of color and we had the best time laughing and talking about everything under the sun! When you spend 4 hours a day on a bus with someone, it can be a learning experience!

I am so lucky to have had this week to get to know Mrs. Williams better. She is a jewel with a big smile, a bigger laugh and a great sense of humor. We talked about the differences and similarities in our races and how prejudice is prevalent in both races...seemingly equally as bad. We both abhor prejudice. She is 70+ years old (I'd never know it to look at her...she's very young looking...and I would NEVER be telling this if I were being more specific about who she is!) and had all the bad black experiences in her life that we white people can only imagine. But Mrs. Williams embraces them as the things that made her who she is today...she even laughs about them, talking about how silly it all is. She was originally from Kentucky and grew up there on a farm around the time before and after WW2. She told me some stories that made me laugh and some that made me cry. She told me about how they had to go in the back door of a restaurant and eat in the back room. How they had to ride behind the wheels on the back of the bus and how people would shun her and as a young girl she never understood why. It was confusing to her..."children don't see skin differences, bless their hearts" she told me. I feel very lucky to have spent this time with her and feel like I can understand more of what oppression is like and what some people go thru because of it.

I hope your week has been wonderful and that you have friends, acquaintances, co-workers and family to make it that much better!

Thought for the day...

When you first meet people all you notice are the differences between you and them, but as time passes you start noticing the similarities. I guess that's how all friendships begin.

Brian Kessler