Sometimes a Simple “Hello” Can Change Somebody’s Life
The kids on bus 7 wave to the mysterious “grandma in the window” every day on their way to school — but when one day she isn’t there, they fear the worst.
Source: Facebook @Arlington Public Schools, Arlington, WA
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No Ordinary Schoolbus
Source: Facebook @Arlington Public Schools, Arlington, WA
Every morning, when the kids pile into bus number 7 in Arlington, Washington, they have quite a different experience from most kids riding the bus in America. Driver Carol Mitzelfeldt greets every single kid by name — an act of kindness that doesn’t go unnoticed.
The Grandma in the Window
Source: NBC News
“It gives me a warm feeling,” one of the students says. The kids on bus 7 have a great little community — with one unlikely member. Every afternoon, an elderly woman waves to the kids as they drive past her home — and they warmly return the greeting. They’ve come to call her “the grandma in the window,” and she’s become an important part of all of their days.
An Empty Window
Source: NBC News
However, one September morning, the “Grandma in the window” wasn’t there to greet her children, and they were worried — they wanted to know that she was alright. Clearly, this woman had become an important part in all of their lives, so driver Carol Mitzelfeldt later brought a bouquet of flowers to the house with a note attached: “To the grandma in the window, we’re thinking of you. Love, the kids on bus 7 and bus driver, Carol.”
Her Absence Didn’t Go Unnoticed
Source: NBC News
“It was kind of heartbreaking, because she was always there,” 7th-grader Axtin Bandewerfhorst (pictured above) told KING 5 News. The kids wanted to do something to reach out to the woman, and their trusted bus driver was going to do whatever she could to make that happen.
Best Get-Well-Soon Card EVER
Source: NBC News
Mitzelfeldt learned from the woman’s husband, Dave, that her name was 93-year-old Louise Edlen, and that she had suffered a stroke a few days earlier and was recovering in a rehab center. “The kids and I said too bad she can’t have something to look at when she can’t be at the window,” Mitzelfeldt said. “So we decided to take a picture.”
Mitzelfeldt brought the picture and flowers with her to visit Louise, and though her speech was impaired from the stroke, she told Mitzelfeldt that she loved the children and that they meant so much to her.
After Silence — a Sign
Source: NBC News
The next day, though the grandma in the window still hadn’t returned to her daily post, there was a sign for the kids at last — a thank you in the window, letting them know that they were just as important to her as she was to them. “I’ve told them, ‘this could be your grandma or grandpa — or even you someday,'” Mitzelfeld told the Huffington Post. “Always treat people with kindness, and always treat people with compassion.”
A Light in the Loneliness
Source: NBC News
While Dave was spending all of his time with Louise in the hospital, they didn’t have a lot of company, so the pair said that knowing so many people on the outside were waiting for Louise to pull through was a huge comfort while she was getting better.
Welcome Home!
Source: Facebook @Arlington Public Schools, Arlington, WA
Last week, Louise was finally able to return home – and she had the best welcome wagon waiting for her that a girl could ask for. Louise’s husband Dave couldn’t have said it better – “It means everything in the world to her – it gives her something to look forward to every day.” And for the kids on bus 7, the feeling is clearly mutual.
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Real-life stories can have fairytale endings!
Source: Arlington Public Schools/Facebook
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Source: NBCNews.com