The Lollipop Lady
There are unsung heroes in life
The soldiers, the nurses, the teachers
The man who drives the school bus,
The dinner lady who puts that extra spoonful
On the
little boys plate
Because she knows that he had no breakfast again.
The old man who still walks his dog, who died 3 months ago,
The dog walker who asks for his help, even though she
doesn’t need it.
They come in different shapes and sizes, different
colours and sounds
One even wears a bright high –vis jacket
She’s the lollipop lady.
She’s not our lollipop lady – we pass her standing at
the side of the road
As we drive in our shiny car to school
But she’s always there, and we look out for her
She becomes a start to the day.
In the snow she wears a shapeless long blue waterproof
coat
And big blue wellies, her cheeks all flushed.
My kids love it when she stops the car, walking into
the road with her sign
As children file like ducklings behind her
And mums with buggies straggle along in bunches
chatting.
Sometimes she gets a wave from us, and she waves back
Sometimes one of the ducklings says Thank You, but not
often.
And one day she was not there, and my kids were sad.
‘Where’s the Lollipop Lady?’ they asked, their morning
stupor gone
And she didn’t come back for several weeks
Cars no longer slowed their pace
In recognition.
My kids stopped looking for her.
Until today.
We saw her at
her post
Thinner, hugging the buggy women who greeted her
Noticing her at last
Standing proud, in her high – vis jacket.
©Ruth Morrison 2014
