Grandmother retires after 52 years walking kids to school
When Marlene Back first started walking her children to school, the year was 1963 – kiss-and-ride zones did not exist and local streets were always full of noisy school kids playing until dusk.
Now 52 years later, Marlene is finally retiring from her before-and-after school care job.
81-year-old Marlene has become a grandmother to generations of children attending Lane Cove West Public School in Sydney, Australia over the past 52 years. After her three sons grew up, she continued to look after other people’s children. With a house full of toys, treats, and love, Marlene would mind the children in the morning, dropping them off at school, and then do the same after school.
But as the year 2015 draws to an end, Marlene’s last two charges, Year 6 students Millie Cole and Hayley Fletcher, are off to high school. It’s with a sad heart that Marlene’s decided to finish up her enduring legacy.
“I’ll miss them, I do love my children,” Marlene told The North Shore Times. “We play board games and we have lots of fun.”
“Which is an exception to so many kids now who don’t play with toys anymore,” she said.
“It’s quite sad really. So many are just interested in their electronic games.
“And nowadays the kids are always being driven around to activities, ballet, gym and so on, whereas in the past the children used to be out on the streets so much more.”
Related links:
15 unlikely friendships that will melt your heart
A Christmas miracle saved my sister
Top 10 life lessons kids learn from grandparents