--- title: A Bus Driver Started Braiding Hair of Girl Who Lost Her Mom description: After 11-year-old Isabella Pieri lost her mother two years ago, she had no one to help her braid her hair until her bus driver stepped in. canonical: https://time.com/5226185/bus-driver-braids-girls-hair-mother-died/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-04-03T19:57:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:51:50.573Z og:title: This Little Girl Lost Her Mother. So Her Bus Driver Started Braiding Her Hair og:description: Get your tissues ready og:url: https://time.com/5226185/bus-driver-braids-girls-hair-mother-died/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Little Girl Lost Her Mother. So Her Bus Driver Started Braiding Her Hair twitter:description: Get your tissues ready twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Little Girl Lost Her Mother. So Her Bus Driver Started Braiding Her Hair > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Apr 3, 2018 7:57 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Apr 3, 2018 7:57 PM UTC After 11-year-old Isabella Pieri lost her mother to a rare illness two years ago, she had no one to help her style her hair. But thanks to her [bus driver](http://time.com/4493595/maryland-bus-driver-saves-students-fire/), Isabella now arrives at school each day with a freshly braided ‘do. According to [_KSL-TV_](http://ksltv.com/393169/bus-driver-brightens-students-mornings-with-braids/?), Isabella’s dad initially gave her a short crew cut following her mom’s passing because he didn’t know what to do with her hair and he leaves early for work. So when she decided to grow the cut out, she was left to her own coiffing devices. Luckily, once she saw her bus driver, Tracy Dean, fixing a classmate’s braids, Isabella knew where to turn for assistance. Dean now braids Isabella’s hair more mornings than not. “You treat them like [your own kids](http://time.com/5226264/jimmy-kimmel-trump-spelling-bee/?xid=homepage), you know,” Dean told _KSL_ of the [act of kindness](http://time.com/4674542/random-acts-kindness-day-world/). “Seven years ago, I found out I had breast cancer, and that’s one of the things that went though my head — who is going to take care of my little ones? Not that my husband couldn’t do it, but you know, that’s what moms do. They do their kids’ hair.” “It makes me feel like she’s a mom pretty much to me,” Isabella explained. “And it makes me excited for the next day to see what she does.” The new tradition affects more than just the young girl’s appearance. One of her teachers, Mrs. Freeze, commented to _KSL_, “I just noticed her head was a little higher that morning, and she had a little more of a step.” See more about the heartwarming daily ritual below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5226185/bus-driver-braids-girls-hair-mother-died/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5226185/bus-driver-braids-girls-hair-mother-died/"},"headline":"This Little Girl Lost Her Mother. 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