4-Year-Old Befriends City Bus Driver. On His Last Day, Camera Catches Their Sweet Goodbye
Children are sweet gifts from above. While, yes, there are those times when they throw temper tantrums and eat rocks, children also have the ability to fill a room (or bus) with pure joy.
Tracy Balistreri and her 4-year-old daughter, Sebastina, ride the city bus every morning to get to school and work.
Sebastina made an unexpected friend during their morning commute.
Every morning Sebastina waited excitedly to greet her friend and bus driver, John Reed. John had been their bus driver for months.
Sebastina would greet him by jumping up and down and giving him a very warm and genuine, “Good Morning!” She then proceeds to update him on her life.
“My daughter is very happy. That’s just the way she is. In the morning, when she sees him coming, she gets very excited. They just struck up a friendship,” Tracy said.
The two even exchanged Valentine’s Day cards. Sebastina definitely brightened John’s morning, but John didn’t realize how much his kindness meant to Tracy.
Tracy’s dad had just been admitted to hospice when John started driving their route.
She told Inside Edition that the simple, happy moment each morning really helped her get through a difficult time.
When John found out that he was switching bus routes, he knew that he needed to do something special to tell his 4-year-old friend goodbye.
He collected a coloring book, a stuffed bunny, and a card that read, “I can honestly say that over the past months you have been my favorite lil’ bus passenger. Your happy smile and warm Good Mornings have brightened my everyday. I want to thank you for being a GREAT EXAMPLE for others to follow.”
Tracy was so grateful for the kindness and generosity shown by John that she shared a post on Facebook explaining their relationship with him.
In the post, Tracy challenged others to pass it on. She wrote, “Do something unexpected today for someone just because. More smiles in this world will help make it a happier place to live.”
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