Meet the small-town crossing guard spreading big joy to kids and passing motorists

After a lifetime of running a home daycare, nurturing young people before they went off to school, Lori McDonald is spending retirement helping kids cross a busy street in a southwestern Ontario village — and spreading enormous joy along the way. 

As trucks, school buses and commuters slow down through Thamesford, Ont. on busy Hwy. 2, McDonald waves and salutes, a big smile on her face as she says "Hello!" and "Good morning" in a sing-song voice. The drivers might not be able to hear her, but three months into the school year, they now know to expect her charm every morning and afternoon. 

"It only took me the first day or so when it dawned on me, what a blessing it is to have this important duty," McDonald said on a weekday morning, waving to cars as she spoke. "I have internal joy, I know I do, and everywhere I go, I try to be that person that spreads it." 

Thamesford is about 30 minutes east of London, Ont., and has a population of just over 2,000. Thamesford Public School has about 250 students. 

Nearly every driver who passes waves at McDonald. If she happens not to make eye contact, many give her a little honk to say hello. The regulars now know her and look forward to seeing her smiling face. 

"I know what it's like, being out here going to work all those years. We get caught up in our own worlds and our own struggles, which might be great or might be small. Seeing so many wonderful faces, and the realization about how the world is getting together, getting up, coming together, getting out of bed and making the world work, it's wonderful." 

McDonald said she gets joy from seeing the smiles on people's faces. 

"We're all doing our part together and if I can be part of their day in the morning or in the afternoon going home after work, and show them 'You did it,' and 'Thanks for getting up today and doing what you do.' I just love it." \

'I look out for them'

Families trust her to look after their kids, including one grandmother who hangs back, watching her 10- and 6-year-old grandchildren walk by themselves and get help crossing from McDonald. 

"She's said to me, she feels safe because she knows I'm there for them. I look out for them," McDonald said. 

Her own crossing guard philosophy harkens back to her own crossing guard when she was a child — Mr. Martin. "He was the one constant in our lives. He was always there, always with a smile, to get you safely to school, ask you if you did your homework, if you are following the rules. Not in a hard way, just in a way to keep you intentional." 

Jacob Mowat, 10, sees McDonald twice a day.

"It feels pretty good to have her cross us across the street," he said. "I like walking to school because we get a lot of fresh air." 

For McDonald, seeing the kids and the drivers as they smile is its own special joy. 

"There's so much transportation to get people to and from where they need to go. They're all doing their part so we can all live this beautiful life," she said.