Man Creates 'Grandfather Express' To Drive His 10 Grandchildren to School
Grandfather Doug Hayes of Gladstone, Oregon, has 10 grandkids, most pretty young and close in age. So when this Christmas rolled around, Hayes wanted to do something different. Crazy, even.
He wanted to give his grandkids something that they wouldn’t forget, but his present would also end up being something he could use to stay connected to them and help them every day.
“Every year, we make a big deal and every week coming into Christmas, advent, every week we give them a gift,” he said, according to KGW.
“I thought, ‘Gee whiz, maybe there’s some way that I can give them a memory that will last all their life.'”
The Christian school that Hayes’ grandkids go to is so small that they don’t offer bus service — so Grandpa decided to step up to the challenge. And this was a present that would work for all 10 grandkids.
In home video posted to Hayes’ Facebook page, a gathering of Christmas-pajama’d grandkids sat on the porch as they waited for their surprise.
“Is that it?” said one. “You got a bus!”
“I was really stunned,” grandson Christian said. “I never expected him to buy a bus. I think all my friends are gonna be stunned.”
“It was a big surprise,” another grandkid said.
“Well, there is a sense of pride and excitement,” Hayes admitted in the video from KGW. “I thought, who does this? This is crazy. So, we’re so excited about it and it’s something that we are hopeful they’ll carry into their lives.”
According to Amy Hayes, this is par for the course for the generous grandfather, who had a difficult time telling people what he wanted for his birthday because — in Amy’s words — he’s so focused on the needs of others.
But he came up with something: the school bus.
“I want a bus so I can go around every morning, pick up all the grandkids, and drive them to school before I go to work,” Amy wrote that he said. “Just a small bus. We’d sing songs, talk, and it would be something unforgettable they did with their grandfather. If money were no object, I’d want a bus.”
“Cousins’ Christmas Party was today and for their last Advent gift before our family ‘Christmas’ morning, they got a bus,” Amy shared on Saturday. “The Grandfather Express in now in service. I love this man.”
On Dec. 23, Hayes shared one of the news outlet’s stories about his present with a verse from Proverbs 17::6 — “Children’s children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father.”
This is certainly one happy, creative and dedicated grandpa!
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