I
will never forget it was the summer of 1989. You are out of school for the
summer and what that means is that there are summer programs for kids who are out
of school ( 3 months to be exact). I remember how students who participated in
this program all went to Sarah J. Rawson Elementary school and rode the school
bus to go to Trinity College in Hartford. The City of Hartford had a lot of
programs like that every year for 6-8 weeks. You went to Trinity College every
day and took classes like if you were in Elementary School. The major
differences is that you enjoyed better food for breakfast & lunch and got
involved in sports more and took classes like the following: Tennis, Swimming,
Enrichment, etc. Enrichment wasn't considered a sports class because it was a
class where you were more sociable (A lot of students wish that there were more
classes like that in school, lol). I would enjoy the classes because they were
chill and students had a chance to relax from the work they have done in
elementary school. At 11, I enjoyed doing some Gymnastics (not much of a
gymnast but it didn't stop me from trying anyway) and it was fun. Everything
was going well but there is always one thing that can happen that will cause
you to be wondering what are you going to do to get out of the dilemma you are
in? Well, me and another classmate, who was about 10-11 years old both went to
the same elementary school Sarah J. Rawson and we both somehow managed to miss
the school bus that we normally would take to go back to Sarah J. Rawson. The
other classmate & I was not the best of friends but we both realized that
we were going to have to put aside our differences and be friends if we were
going to go home to our family.
Meanwhile,
the first thing you do when you are lost is go to a police officer. That's what
we learned to do and is part of the "safety first" manual. Me &
the other classroom saw a woman police officer (Hispanic woman) and told her
that we were lost and that we were trying to figure out how we were going to
get from where we were at from Trinity College to Hartland Street &
Pembroke Street in Hartford. The police officer woman told us to go to the fire
station and ask the fireman if we can use his phone to phone our parents. Me
& the other classmate did exactly what the woman police officer had told us
to and asked the fireman if we could call our parents. At first the fireman
wanted to know if we were lost and we told him "yes." Then he wanted
to know where we live and me and the other classmate told him Hartland and
Pembroke Street. The woman police officer came inside the fire station and
filled the fireman in on everything that was going on and the fireman let us use
his phone so that we can call our parents. My friend called his parents and I
remember calling my mom telling her how the bus left me and another classmate
and that we were calling because we are going to be late to both Hartland
Street (where the classmate lived at) and Pembroke Street (where I lived at).
My mom understood and was calm because she knew this was a different case
scenario then the time I went missing back in 1986. I let her know that a
police officer will be taking me home to the house and the other classmate home
back at his house. The other classmate & I filled the woman police officer
in that our parents understand that we will be coming home in a police car on
Hartland Street and Pembroke Street. The woman police officer dropped me off at
my house first to Pembroke Street and dropped off the other classmate off to
his house at Hartland Street. By the time I got home I remember my mom telling
me, "The school bus driver is not going to always ask is everyone on the
bus like he didn't in you and your classmate's case so you have to make sure
that you are out there in time to catch the bus from now on." I listened
to my mom and made sure that nothing like that ever happened to me again.
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