The security cameras installed on public transportation aren’t there to capture touching moments, but they did anyway last March.
It was John Reed’s last day driving his regular Milwaukee County Transit bus route. And he was going to miss the GreenLine, which connects the city’s Bayshore Mall to the airport because it also made a stop at a local elementary school.
At the time, 4-year-old Sebastiana Balistreri and her mother would board each school day and greet their driver.
Reed developed a fondness for the sweet little girl – and the feeling was mutual.
So when he knew his final day of taking her to school had come, he planned a little surprise to say goodbye.
It wouldn’t be the first memento of affection the duo has exchanged – they gave each other Valentines earlier in the year.
“My daughter is very happy,” Sebastiana’s mother Tracy told InsideEdition.com. “That’s just the way she is. In the morning, when she sees him coming, she gets very excited. They just struck up a friendship.”
When the little girl boarded the bus last March, he gave her one final gift – a goodie bag full of coloring books and a grey stuffed rabbit.
“Good morning, sweetie!” he can be heard saying when the duo board. “Oh my gosh. How are you? I got you a card, I got you a coloring book and there’s something else in there for you.”
And Sebastiana was pretty thrilled with her presents, as any 4-year-old would be.
There was even a card inside which read:
“I can honestly say that over the past months you have been my favorite lil bus passenger. Your happy smile and warm Good Mornings have brightened my everyday. I want to thank you for being a GREAT EXAMPLE for others to follow.”
Sebastiana’s mother Tracy was so touched by the kind bus driver’s gesture that she posted about it on Facebook, where it briefly went viral.
“Every morning Sebastiana and I take the city bus (Green Line) to school and work,” she wrote. “We try to always take the same bus because we made friends with the driver John.”
“She is always super excited to see him, she always wishes him a good morning, and tells him the latest tidbit of news in her 4-year-old life. She wrote him a Valentine, and he gave her one too. They are best buddies.”
After she tagged the Milwaukee County Transit System in her post, they sent her free rides for a month and she encouraged everyone to pay forward all good deeds.
“I paid for a family’s meal at Culver’s
Let me know how you’re paying it forward today,” she wrote in the comments.
In an update about a year later, she also confirmed that they were still in touch with the kind bus driver.
But in a very sad turn of events, she announced in the summer of 2019 that Reed had been diagnosed with cancer and had decided to stop treatment:
“UPDATE: Our dear friend John has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer. He has made the decision to not continue with treatment. Please keep John and his family in your prayers.”
In the post, she even shared a photo of Sebastiana visiting Reed in the hospital.
Sadly, Reed passed away on June 30, 2019 at just 60 years of age, but he touched many hearts with the story of his generosity.
Be sure to scroll down below to see the original story and don’t forget to pay forward the next kindness you receive in honor of John Reed.
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