FINDING LOVE ON THE BUS

I'M BAAAAAACK!!!!! Jeff called me early this morning to tell me that some Blogger's were going to be putting out a SOS since I have been MIA for a couple weeks. I have excuses but.......Their lame. Truth is......I stink and I am NOT worthy of calling myself a Blogger. I won't bore you with my reasons for being MIA....Just know that it's NOT because I'm depressed about the slowness of the adoption. Anyhoo, I promised to tell you my bus driver story a couple weeks ago. Here it goes......

Alright, let me just say that I wasn't slow and therefore, I didn't graduate at 22. In fact, I was the second youngest in my graduating class at R.U. High (Yup, that's what they called it). When I was 16 I still rode the bus home from school. One day.... I headed out to my bus and low and behold.......It wasn't my scary old bus driver in the drivers seat! I had seen the young guy (he was 21) around before but had never spoken with him. In fact, he had driven the bus I was on to band camp the summer before. I would sit near the front of the bus because I was one of the first stops. Alright, I also thought he was kinda cute!!! I would talk to him on the way home and I found out that he also worked at the gas station that was at the corner near my house. My friend Lauren (or Madge as I call her) and I decided that we would walk past the gas station in hopes of seeing Dana (she also had a crush on him) and pretend we were going to the store. We did this several times and then........One day I decided to go by myself. It was THAT day that Dana asked me out. Let me tell you, Lauren was TICKED OFF! I realize that there was a HUGE age difference but I was smitten. We actually dated on and off for two years. I have to tell you that dating your bus driver had it's advantages and disadvantages.

Advantage: A bus stop was created especially for me at the end of my driveway.

Disadvantage: School employee's are NOT allowed to attend dances.

Here is a picture of Dana & I. I must tell you that I had JUST had my wisdom teeth pulled when this picture was taken. I also would like to add that my daughter, Hope (and Ava) WILL NOT be allowed to date anyone that much older than they are. Just thought I would tell you that.




Dana and I remained friends even after we broke up. Every few years he would call me and we would catch up on what was going on in our lives. The last time I talked to him, I remember hanging up the phone and thinking it would be the last time we would speak......It was just a feeling......That was over 8 years ago.

One evening in July, 1998 I became all of a sudden sick with the flu. I mean, it came out of NO WHERE! I remember that my face was burning hot and yet my body was freezing cold. My body ached so badly that I remember actually crawling when I had to go to the bathroom. The next morning, I was fine. I told Jeff during the night that I felt like I had been hit by a truck. A couple days later I found out that Dana died that very night. Dana was stuck and killed instantly while crossing the road. He was hit by a truck.