We Walk On

It started again this morning:  We walk the neighborhood children to school, and we’ll do it every single school morning. 

I love this routine.  The other parents do, too.  They even park their cars down near the school and come back to their houses to walk their children to school (and then depart for work).  But there’s no other way about it; we commit to this walk-to-school campaign, and we do it.  It’s faster to drive.  It’s easier to drive.  It makes no sense to waste this time walking when there’s a bus or a minivan right here.

But we do it.  We give up a whole hour (for those walking back home) to do it.  I counted nearly 30 of us (dads, moms, a toddler, and children) on the hill.  Originally, it was for fitness, really.  Now?  It’s changed our lives and our neighborhood.  

There’s something so right and good about children walking to school and enjoying the company of adults beside them.  We love these children, and we love our public schools.  We walk on, pick up new children on the path, and brave the huge hill through the woods.  We give hugs good-bye to children who don’t even belong to us, and then the adults walk back home. We talk about our work, our dreams, our struggles.  We talk about our children, our plans, our faith. 

This is real life lived together.  We’ll be back together tomorrow. 
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Journal:  Is there a way to get children and adults to walk together in your neighborhood?