Friday was horrendous. The storm that was predicted as all rain in this area turned to snow and driving a school bus full of children became challenging to say the least. Because the worst of the storm didn’t hit here until after 2:00 p.m., schools remained open. By 3:30 p.m. the roads were so congested the buses couldn’t get through to the elementary schools and many young students didn’t get home until after 6:00 p.m.
I didn’t leave work until after six when the thought of taking the 45-minute drive home was so daunting I decided to stay nearby where I was safe, but alone, and where I ate a light supper and got into bed and slept for the next twelve hours.
In the morning I got up, picked up my cell phone, and listened to a guided meditation I have been listening to for the last ten days, a meditation containing these words: Albert Einstein once said that there are only two ways to live your life. One is to see nothing as a miracle. The other is to see everything as a miracle.
As I listened I reflected back on the day before, thinking about the miracles I had seen and heard:
1). Cars taking turns moving through intersections where traffic lights were out.
2). A bus driver who agreed to take on more runs than he had to.
3). Dispatchers who worked well beyond the call of duty.
4). Bus drivers coming together at the end of the day to share their experiences and perhaps a laugh before heading out through the storm again to make their way home.
And as I thought about these things, I thought, too, about what I had written a few weeks earlier, after the Super Bowl, about how we are all champions doing our jobs, even those of us who bitched and complained. Because in the end we all fought the dragon and won.
