Every morning, she waved hello to her local lollipop lady, but they were just two ships passing.
Known to each other but never quite meeting the other.
That was until she sent in a letter to the editor of the local newspaper.
Everyone has a tale to tell about a crossing supervisor they know, but this is the story of how Neha Samar met Valerie Lancaster.
Mrs Lancaster has been a crossing supervisor for almost 30 years and had been running the Archer St, Shepparton, crossing for a while.
“It’ll be 30 years in April,” Mrs Lancaster said.
“I give everyone who goes past a wave and a smile because there’s no reason not to be nice.”
Neha Samar has been a Shepparton resident for eight years.
“I have taken Archer St every day for work,” Mrs Samar said.
“While driving in the morning, my mind is consumed mainly by thoughts revolving around things to get done during the day, work, kids, the usual planning.
“When I drive past Archer St school crossing, a friendly person always smiles and waves, wearing a high-vis jacket and holding a STOP sign.
“For those few seconds, while I waved back at her, my thoughts took a pause, and it gave my mind a break I didn’t even know I needed.
“This happened for many years and suddenly it didn’t.”
In October 2023, Mrs Samar’s daily wave was interrupted by the absence of her friendly neighbourhood crossing supervisor.
“I was having one of those hard weeks and, as usual, my mind was racing in the morning, but when I reached work, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that something wasn’t right and hadn’t been for some time,” she said.
“The next day, while taking the same route, I noticed schoolchildren, and it hit me — the friendly smiles and waves weren’t there any more.
“I thought maybe she was on holiday, so I gave it a few days, but there were no replacement supervisors at the crossing too.
“I wanted to thank this kind person for sharing their smile with me, without any expectations of a response.”
What Mrs Samar didn’t know was that Mrs Lancaster had moved locations.
“I had been moved from the Archer St location to the Hamilton St crossing,” Mrs Lancaster said.
Mrs Samar didn’t want their waves to come to an end, so she sent a letter to the editor of The News.
“I decided to write a letter to the editor hoping maybe the letter reaches her and she knows that she has unknowingly and unconsciously become a part of my routine and her smile was a constant in the unpredictable day,” Mrs Samar said.
“There are so many people around us, our friends, family, strangers, who bring joy to our lives in big and small ways.
“I wanted to thank and acknowledge those people that have shared their kindness with me and I wrote the letter just so I can convey my gratitude to Val with no expectations of a reply but hoping that it would reach her somehow.”
The letter ran in the paper on November 30, 2023.
And here are some excerpts from the letter:
“Many times, I contemplated stopping by to say hello in person, but the rush of work and the sight of you selflessly helping children always held me back,” the letter from Mrs Samar read.
“Recently, something felt amiss. It was as though I was taking the wrong path to work.
“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for always being so warm and welcoming.
“Rain or shine, you stood there at that crossing, ensuring the safety of young ones and brightening the day of passing cars with a simple wave.
“You are a remarkable person, ma’am. Thank you for radiating joy and generously sharing your smile with me every morning for all these years.
“I wish I knew your name, but I hope this letter reaches you.”
It did.
It was Mrs Lancaster’s job that brought the letter to her attention.
“Work showed me this letter and it was beautiful,” she said.
“When I first read it, it brought tears to my eyes.”
Not long after the letter was published, Mrs Samar received a call from an unknown number.
“She [the caller] introduced herself as Val, the crossing supervisor,” Mrs Samar said.
“I was very happy to, firstly, know her name and that she read my letter.
“We had a great chat, and she mentioned how surprised and happy she was to read the letter, and we decided to meet in person the following week.”
The two met at a local coffee shop and Mrs Lancaster was surprised with flowers and a small gift on her arrival.
“When we did end up meeting it was beautiful,” Mrs Lancaster said.
“She had brought me these gifts, and when we got to talking, I learnt what a lovely person she is.”
Mrs Samar was equally thrilled with the catch-up and couldn’t wait to share her gratitude in person.
“Val is as wonderful as she has been all these years at the crossing,” she said.
“Although she was not in her high-vis and hat, her smile is one that I can recognise in a crowd.
“We spoke about families and work, and she shared her stories of being at the crossing for all these decades.
“It was great to catch up and finally say my thanks in person.”
They have stayed in contact and plans to catch up again in the near future.
So next time you see your local crossing supervisor, give them a wave and a smile to brighten up your morning.