После 23 лет работы официанткой в ресторане Dion's в Лос-Лунасе Рэйчел Гетман уходит на пенсию

COMMUNITY Trusted Dion’s employee to retire after 23 years LOS LUNAS — For 23 years, Rachel Getman has been the quiet engine of the Dion’s dining room — broom in hand, dustpan at the ready and a memory bank full of stories that only someone who’s spent half her life bussing tables could collect. She got her start at Dion’s the old-fashioned way — spotting an ad in the newspaper back in 2003. To this day, she can point out that first table she worked, where everything started. “I’m almost 50. I started here when I was 21,” Rachel said. She has bussed tables for more than two decades, proudly, consistently and intentionally. Getman’s work is simple in description and enormous in practice. Wiping tables, sweeping floors, corralling condiments, hauling dishes — everything that keeps the dining room moving. “I just like working here,” Getman said. “I like the people I work with, and I like the payment.” It’s the little surprises like discovering bills tucked away in booths that keep the job exciting. But the real treasures are the people. Her old elementary principal, women with their grandchildren, cheerful regulars — these are the characters in Getman’s long-running story, the ones who make the job feel less like work and more like community. Serving her community is when she feels true gratification. “One time over in that booth, there was a big ole mess from kids,” she said. “It made me feel happy that I cleaned it up.” That’s Rachel Getman finding fulfillment in the small victories, even the sticky ones. Her proudest milestone? Hitting $18 an hour. “I knew I was going to, but I didn’t know it was gonna be so soon,” she said. Her next milestone is bigger — retirement. She plans to finish exactly where she started, in October, completing a full 25‑year arc. Then she’s off. “I’m planning a trip for when I retire,” she said. Her first stop will be East Haven, Conn., home of the Transylvania Restaurant Bar, a spot she’s never visited but calls her favorite place in the world. After that, she’ll hit Salem and Sleepy Hollow. Getman’s story isn’t flashy or dramatic like the Halloween movies she loves. It’s steady, human and full of the kind of details that make a life feel lived. Twenty‑three years of tables, chairs, crumbs and small kindnesses, all adding up to a legacy that wasn’t built in one fell swoop, but one sweep at a time. (Aubrie Moore is an intern with the New Mexico Local News Fellowships and Internships Program, which places emerging journalists in newsrooms across New Mexico. Learn more at newmexicolocalnewsfellowships.org.)