EVERYWHERE WE GO-O

PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW-O

WHO WE A-ARE

WHERE WE COME FROM

SO WE TELL ‘EM

WE ARE THE BUS KIDS!

THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BUS KIDS!

     Every Sunday morning through the streets of Tupelo, Mississippi you will hear the big yellow bus coming down the street before you even see it.  Yes, you hear the sound of happy kids singing loudly on their way to church.

     These are my Bus Kids, and they are, indeed, Mighty Mighty Bus Kids!  These kids come from the poor end of town, or as some people might say, the wrong side of the tracks.  These are the forgotten kids.  These are my Bus Kids.   

     When they come on my bus, all their problems are left outside the doors.  For a little while they are in a happy place until they go back to their own little worlds, only to wait in anticipation for the following weekend.  This is the only time some of these kids get any love whatsoever.  How I wish I could reach every kid in the world, at least every kid in Tupelo, but so far I haven’t been able to.  I’m not going to say it’s impossible, as every Saturday I visit my Bus Kids individually for a little while and I’m always on the lookout for more.  The first time you get on my bus you get a Giant Snickers Bar.  If you bring a visitor, you get a Giant Snickers Bar and your visitor gets a Giant Snickers Bar and so on, and so on.  And if you don’t sing loud enough on the bus, I throw candy to the best singer and that’ll get you singing!  All the kids reaching, stretching out with both hands, while I throw fistfuls of candy at them!  This is the time when I am allowed to be a child, myself. Every Sunday morning, I sing loudly, I act silly and we all do what kids love to do best. We have fun!   On this bus every kid is welcome and on this bus you are allowed to be exactly who you are.  My bus driver joins in on the singing and fun, for to be on my bus you need to love these kids.

     And love is what these kids need.  These are the throw away children.  Many have no idea who their dad is.   They live in houses full of drugs and neighborhoods full of violence.  I remember seeing little Antonio one day stuffing all the candy that he had in his mouth.  When asked why he didn’t save all his candy for later, he told me that his mom’s boyfriend would take all his candy away from him when he walked in the door. 

     Everyone deserves a chance.  While I am with these kids, I make sure they know that they can grow up to be whatever they wish to be.  I am not the only person in the world that has Bus Kids.  There are numerous churches throughout the United States who have the same type of Bus Kids and on Sunday mornings you can hear them throughout the country doing the same thing, singing songs, throwing candy, and having a wonderful time. 

     Bus Kids are not new.  The first Bus Kid Route was started at First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana in the 1960’s.  From there, Bus Kids started appearing here and there and now are all over the United States. 

     I am so proud when we have singing tour groups in our church.  As each member introduces themselves, inevitably one will say I am a Bus Kid from Hammond, Indiana, or I am a Bus Kid from Longview Texas, or wherever else they may come from.  These are Bus Kids that made it.  They are going to college.  Some Bus Kids end up being preachers, school teachers, accountants, anything they want to be.  I get so excited as my kids see these grown up Bus Kids, dressed beautifully, who overcame their life and environment, Bus Kids with bus routes of their own, Bus Kids of their own.  That is when I’ve seen my little ones really start to dream.  “I want to sing on stage just like they do!” they’ll tell me excitedly and yes, one day I may very well see them sing in their own tour group.  I have seen many of these kids make a decision to change their lives and succeed, in spite of their own families.    You see the change in them the minute their decision is made and you watch them continue on to be successful adults.  All these kids need is someone to believe in them and cheer them on.  You’ve got to love these kids.  You’ve got to love each one of them individually.  They can tell if you really love them, and if they can’t see your love for them, it is impossible to reach them.  Many of my Bus Kids grow up and they don’t make it.  They get caught up in drugs, in gangs, but I always have the hope that a seed has been planted in them and one day they will remember and overcome their environment.

     Bus Kids never forget you.  You have a special place in their heart, as they all have a special place in mine.  I can’t tell you how many times I have been in a store, a restaurant, or anywhere and I hear someone call, “Miss May!”  only to see a Bus Kid that has grown up, a Bus Kid that now has their own children.  Sometimes their children now ride my bus, giving me second generation Bus Kids.

     Then I have my Bus Kids that I have never lost contact with.  They will call me now and then and let me know how they are doing.  One example is my Destany.  Destany first came on the bus when she was eight years old.  She grew up on the bus, became a bus worker as she grew to be a teenager and grew to be my special little buddy.  Destany now drives a truck cross country and we still talk on an average of once a week.  When she’s in the area, we’ll meet and have lunch together.  That is always a wonderful reunion!  

     Then I have my heartbreaks, as when a child suddenly moves never to be found again.  A child that we pick up at a foster home suddenly gets transferred to another foster home.  We don’t get a chance to say goodbye and my heart breaks every time I lose one of these precious children.  My biggest heartbreak ever was with little Felicia.  She must be about 21 years old at this writing.  Felicia lived in a foster home and had severe emotional problems.  It took me a while to gain her trust but when I did, we became the best of friends.  We would talk and she would tell me about her mom who was in jail.  A mom she would not see for a very long time.  She grew to confide in me and to tell me her fears.  Felicia was a very sad child.  She so seldom smiled.  Felicia and I developed a bond and I loved her so much.  I still do wherever she is.  One day she ran crying up to me and said that this week she would be transferred to another foster home.  She clung to me crying and I hugged her, while I also cried.  She didn’t know where she would be going to.  I wrote my phone number on a little piece of paper, folded it and put it in her dress pocket.   I told her, “Felicia, keep this number in a safe place and call me when you get settled.”  Felicia never called.  Whether she lost the phone number or someone took it away, I will never know.  I did all I could to find out where she moved to. The foster mother she had lived with didn’t know. She put me in touch with her social worker who would not tell me.  Felicia was gone.  What would happen to all the progress she had made? Felicia didn’t take to change easily and this would be a big one, with a whole new set of strangers. I cried for Felicia for over a year and to this day, I think of her in the same yellow dress that she wore every Sunday and I just let out a deep sigh. This is my precious little girl whom I will never forget.

     Until my path changes leading me in another direction, this is what I will do. I will visit my Bus Kids every Saturday, look for more Bus Kids, and go on my Bus Route on Sundays where we will sing songs, throw candy, and make lots of noise. We will ride that big yellow bus, where once you step in there is nothing but happiness and love. I will always tell them that they must dream big dreams and that one day those dreams will come true. After church, I will take them home and as they enter their homes, I will yell, “See you next week!” And when the last child is dropped off, I will take my shoes off and put my feet on the seat across the isle as we make our way back to church.

This is what I do.  This is what I love.  These are my Bus Kids.

SPECIAL COMMENT
If you are Felicia, mentioned above or you know of her
where-a-bouts, then please do contact me
LuellaMay@oakwoodgrafix.co.uk

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