Uncle George

I received a very sad news today. At lunch time, I learned that "Uncle George" passed away last night. George, or as my girls call him Uncle George, was the bus driver who took my girls to school and brought them home safely everyday for 10 years, from kindergarten all the way to Year 10.

He was so reliable and never missed a school day. He was a big help for us because me and my husband both go to work. The only time I remember he was away was when he had a knee operation and he even scheduled it as close as possible to the school holidays so parents like us don't have to worry.

Uncle George was funny and treated all the kids in his bus as if they were his own and made sure they were always safe. He was one person who took his responsibility with the kids very seriously. One time I forgot to call him to let him know that my daughter wasn't going home with him. So when my sister came to pick her up, he wouldn't let my daughter go with her. After much reassurance from my sister, George reluctantly agreed.

Uncle George was originally from Costa Rica. He had this really loud voice and very strong accent. He was one of the very rare people who pronounced my name 'Mo-nee-ke'. I don't know but I never bothered to correct him. When my daughter started kindergarten he only had a Tarago. Then after a few years, to accommodate demand from parents, he upgraded to a shuttle bus.

The last time I saw Uncle George was when my family hired him to drive the whole family plus visiting cousins, nephews and nieces to Canberra in December 2006. He was in his normal cheerful self.

Uncle George, you will be dearly missed.