A thrill of hope: School bus

For more than a year after my mom died, I strained my neck every Saturday to see her school bus, No. 20, in the lot across from the Bettendorf post office. A couple of months ago, I took a different route out of the post office parking lot and suddenly found myself face-to-face with it. It was sitting off from the rest of the fleet near the fence with three others, most likely only put into rotation when a sub bus is needed. I caught my breath that day, yet at the same time smiled because nobody else was assigned to it on a regular basis. Because to me, even though it belongs to the bus company, it will always be my mom’s bus.

So now whenever I take that exit from the post office, I give a little wave and a smile. It’s comforting to know there are signs of her all around, like the cardinals that just wouldn’t leave my tomato plants one day this summer no matter how close I got, or the one basking in the sun right outside the window I could see from my desk yesterday. It’s hard to believe it’s been two years already, though some days it seems forever ago. Keep the God smiles coming, Mom. We you.

Erin Platt lives in Davenport, with her husband Jason and step-son, Wyeth. Her mom, Evalea McBride, drove a school bus for Pleasant Valley School District for 43 years. She died on Dec. 5, 2018.