I wrote this poem in January, 2007 when our old friend, neighbour, and bus driver, Donnie MacNeil, was forced to retire at the age of 65. What used to be the Cape Breton Victoria Regional Schoolboard, now known as the Cape Breton Victoria Regional Centre for Education, determined that in the best interest of students, families, and education, they should eliminate a bus as well. The area serving Sgoil Mhic Fhraing A'Chaolais (Rankin School of the Narrows) would now be served by three busses as opposed to four; even though attendance at the school was increasing. As a result, our oldest daughter, Jessie Helen, in grade primary at the time, was forced to spend over 3 hours a day on the bus as opposed to a half hour, which she had become accustomed to in her first four months of school. To this day, it remains one of the most disheartening periods of our lives.
