Father Daughter Final Walk To School

Today is the last day a Florida dad will walk his daughter to school. He's made the walk with her every day for 10 years!

Frank McKinney will walk his daughter Laura to St. Vincent Ferrer School for the last time – a tradition that started over 1,650 walks ago, and has carried on unbroken since Laura’s first day of Pre-Kindergarten on August 21, 2002.

That’s right; Laura has never been driven to school in the 10 years since she started Pre-Kindergarten. Rain, cold, wind, even hurricane warnings… it didn’t matter!
What began as special time to spend together, just Dad and Daughter, has grown into an amazing daily ritual that now involves as many as one hundred of Laura’s schoolmates who are eager to join them on the first Friday of every month. Robert J. Wright and I got to speak with both of them on their final day:

The 7-block walks, through the McKinney’s jungle-like back yard, past an eerie nature preserve, and over a 1949 drawbridge, inspired Frank McKinney’s young reader fantasy novel; Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes, and the Good Luck Circle (www.Dead-Fred.com).
Still walking hand-in-hand when most teenagers wouldn’t be caught dead with their dad, Frank and Laura use this time to share their love for each other and all that is good in this world.