Kent Turner said he was going to cry.
Then he said it again.
Standing by as longtime postal employee Charlotte Cito talked about her impending retirement, Turner, retail supervisor at the Lake Orion post office, said he was going to miss his friend.
‘I’ve had the blessing of working with Char for the last seven years,? Turner said. ‘It’s totally fun to laugh and joke around with her; we’ve become really close’she’s my family now.?
But after 30 years as a postal employee’she currently works as the office distribution clerk, but also spent 15 years serving customers at the window’Cito plans to retire next week.
‘I was on the window so long I think I know half of Lake Orion,? she said, noting she sees people she knows just about every time she goes out. ‘Everyone’s always saying ‘Hi, Char.? I’ve gotten to know so many people.
And that’s why she’s inviting the whole community to her retirement party Friday, Oct. 23 at the Lake Orion Post Office.
‘Anyone who wants to come in and say hi, have a bite to eat, they’re more than welcome,? she said, noting she and fellow employees typically bring a plethora of hot and cold dishes to such events. ‘We have a lot of good cooks here.?
Once her last day at the post office is over, Cito said she plans to enjoy her retirement doing everything from finally learning to use her long-arm quilt machine to traveling and going to rock concerts.
‘I like my rock and roll,? she said. ‘It keeps me young.?
Cito also plans to continue the work she began when she established Operation Guardian Angel a few years back.
It all started when a friend’s son went to Iraq. Cito assembled care packages’complete with goodies, magazines, puzzles, toiletries, books and other items’and sent them off.
When the young man came home safely, she felt compelled to continue.
Local charitable organizations, she said, have helped by donating money, supplies and holding fundraising events. Today, the photographs of dozens of soldiers currently stationed in Iraq or Afghanistan, hang in the lobby of the Lake Orion post office’most live in or near the Orion/Oxford area, or have family and friends that do.
They all get care packages from Operation Guardian Angel; many, Cito said, have stopped by the post office to thank her once they get back home.
‘This is my duty,? she said. ‘I have to keep doing this.?
Cito’s retirement party takes place at 10 a.m., Friday, Oct. 23 at the Lake Orion post office, 611 N Lapeer Road, and is open to anyone who wants to attend.