“She is way too young to be walking this distance by herself,” said the cops.
It was the spring of 2021 in New Britain, Connecticut, and Julie-Ann Toalston was in carpool mode. She had her four kids in the car and planned to stop at her sister’s house to pick up three nieces and nephews; the kids all attended the same magnet school.
Everyone was in the car and ready to go, but Toalston’s seven-year-old daughter Vesper had a meltdown. (It somehow involved having chosen the wrong costume—pirate—for superhero day.) Vesper refused to buckle her seatbelt, so Toalston ordered her to walk home to face dad. It was a little less than mile back to the house.
I used to walk just over a mile to school everyday starting in kindergarten. So did lots of other kids.
