Small acts of kindness

(Above) Three-year-old Jude Nicholson makes it a point to wave at buses and motorists daily. -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy.

by Marianne Gasaway

They say an act of kindness, no matter how small, can go a long way.  

Jude Nicholson is too young to know how many smiles he has inspired, but it’s probably hundreds daily.

Since he was little more than two-years-old, Jude, who will be four next month, has been waving to motorists picking up students at Clear Creek Elementary each afternoon.  Buses are his real love, but Jude does not discriminate.  He waves at SUVs, mid-size cars and mini-vans as they pull in and out of the school parking lots across the street from his home. 

And the vast majority of drivers and passengers wave back— even rolling down their windows to shout out hello, or thanks.  Some even stop with gifts.  Most recently, he was named the Bob Wolfram Community Volunteer of the Week and presented with a certificate and prize, as well as a book donated by local author Rachel Smith.

His friendliness also caught the attention of the school district, which invited him to visit its bus barn and climb aboard.

“About once a week a bus will stop and the driver will give him a sucker or pass along a present from someone who said he made their day,” explained Jude’s father, Jeremy, who accompanies his son daily.   “Usually he brings out his own buses to show, but today he wanted to have a big stuffed panda out here with us,” said Jeremy.

Jeremy said he is not sure why Jude has such an interest in buses, but he surely does.  And not just big yellow school buses.  Smaller transports, like the ones used by organizations, or mini-vans are also in his vocabulary wheelhouse. 

“He’ll spot them while we’re driving— I don’t know how he focuses in on them, but he does,” said Jeremy.

Jude’s likes don’t begin and end with buses and waving at them as they pass.

“He loves dinosaurs, too.  But they’re not walking by,” he laughed.

If they were, they’d probably be smiling.