Last week, a school bus driver in Louisville, Kentucky, noticed that one of his first-grade passengers wasn’t his usual smiling self.
Larry Farrish Jr., who drives for Jefferson County Public Schools, instead found Levi crying at the bus stop, sitting on the side of the road with his coat over his head.
When Farrish asked what was wrong, he learned that there was a big problem: It was Pajama Day at Engelhard Elementary School, and Levi didn’t have pajamas.
“It hurt me so bad,” Farrish said in a press release from the school district. “That just wasn’t my Levi, and I wanted him to have a good day. No child should have to miss out on something as small as pajama day.”
Farrish, who’s been driving a school bus for seven years, has a huge heart for the kids in his care.
“They become my kids after they leave their parents,” he said. “I make sure they get to and from school safe, but I also try to bring some type of joy to their lives.”
So, once he had dropped the students off and completed his morning run, Farrish visited a Family Dollar store and bought a few pairs of PJs in different sizes. Then he drove back to the school and asked if Levi could be sent to the front office.
“I saw Levi coming down the hall, and he had a face just as happy as could be,” Farrish said. “It really turned the whole Friday around, for him and for me.”
Levi changed into the football-themed pajamas and rejoined his classmates, and an administrator at JCPS posted about the bus driver’s kindness on Facebook. The post generated over 300 comments from parents and community members who love and appreciate “Mr. Larry.”
“Mr Larry is the absolute best,” wrote a parent named Maggie Willacker. “We were blessed with him as our bus driver for four years. Top notch human.”
Willacker's sentiment was shared by many others — many of whom pointed out how refreshing it was to see a “good news” story in their Facebook feeds.
This story was originally published by Jennifer Graham Kizer on Simplemost.com.
