A MOMENT IN HISTORY: Me and Robin Roberts

I was driving through Newton the other day when I saw this. Hundreds of school buses returning to the bus garage for the summer.

And just like that - I returned. Back to that sing-songy Schools out-Schools out-Teacher-wore-her paddle-out feeling. There is nothing quite like that moment when a kid (or teacher) is let out of school for the summer.

And that goes for bus drivers too.

Believe it or not, for two years when I was in high school, I was in that line-up of drivers returning buses to the school bus garage.

It's ancient history now. But for decades, North Carolina actually hired student drivers. There were 8 children in my family and every last one of us drove school buses as students.

Somewhere I have a pic of my brother and me standing in front of our two buses which are parked in our yard. (I spent too much time unsuccessfully looking for it this morning so you'll have to take my word for it.)

Here, instead, is a photo of several of us at an earlier time boarding a bus in our yard. My older brother, Ken is driving.

I suspect one of the visiting relatives from Pennsylvania took this picture. They never quite got over the fact that North Carolina allowed students to drive school buses. (Note: Governors on the buses prevented us from traveling much over 35 miles per hour).

North Carolina was not the only state to do this. A few years ago on Good Morning America, the morning crew shared glimpses of their first jobs. Guess what Robin Roberts' first job was?

Yep! She drove a school bus! (in Alabama) To read her story, follow this link and scroll nearly to the bottom of the page.

So happens, Robin Roberts is one of my most admired people. I like having this in common with her.