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School bus driver, students connect with ‘the grandma in the window’

A woman who waves to students on a bus from her window every school day was no longer there recently, after suffering a stroke. The driver brought her flowers and the students made her a sign of them waving from inside the bus to show her how much she means to them.

October 27, 2015
2 min to read


ARLINGTON, Wash. — A school bus driver and the students aboard her bus reached out when a woman who waves to them from her window every day was not there for a few days, KING 5 News reports.

Louise Edlen, 93, is known by bus driver Carol Mitzelfeld and the students as “the grandma in the window” because she has been waving to the students on the bus from her dining room window every school day for the last five years, according to the news source. Edlen has 30 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

A few weeks ago, the window was empty for a few days, and Mitzelfeld found out that Edlen had suffered a stroke and was recovering in a rehabilitation center, KING 5 News reports. Mitzelfeld brought Edlen a bouquet of flowers and the next day, a sign appeared in the dining room window that read, "Thank You."

The students then made a sign for Edlen with a large photograph showing all of them waving from inside the bus to show her how much she means to them, according to the news source. Mitzelfeld presented the sign to Edlen last week and told her that the students miss her and want her to get better. Edlen has difficulty speaking because the stroke partially paralyzed her throat, but said she misses them too, and is trying to get better, KING 5 News reports. Edlen may be back at home on Tuesday, waving to the children from her window again as they head home from school, according to the news source.

To read the full story, go here.

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