Luci Laird holds a wall hanging featuring Brookdale School, which she will soon be leaving after 11 years as an office aide.
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — For Bloomfield resident Luci Laird who will be retiring in June from her position as office aide at Brookdale Elementary School, these are bittersweet days.
A graduate of Vailsburg High School, Laird has worked in the district for 15 years. Her first four years were in the administration building as a part-time employee in registration. She then came to Brookdale where she has been for the past 11 years.
A typical day for her is to check the emails, deal with the children, handle the phones, and deal with the children some more.
“I’ve probably given out thousands of Band-Aides,” she said. “Mr. Fleres, I love and admire.”
Joseph Fleres is the school principal.
Although she is retiring, Laird is staying in Bloomfield.
“There isn’t a place I can go,” she said. “Everywhere they make a big fuss.”
Coming to work at Brookdale 11 years ago was a gift, she said. While other people were thinking about retiring, she was thinking of a new start. She said the people around her have kept her young. And thinking back on her years at Brookdale makes her think of all the teachers she has known — “her girls” she calls them — and how she was able to share the experiences of their lives.
“There was never a day that I didn’t look forward to coming here,” she said. “It’s been very emotional.”
She said when she first met Fleres, she did not think he was old enough to be her son — she thought he looked more like a grandson. And that, she said kiddingly, made her the boss.
Fleres had heartfelt words for her.
“She’s definitely the sunshine to all our days at Brookdale,” he said. “Her passion for the kids and staff is incredible. When I first came here, she and my secretary, Donna Minneci, gave me guidance. We’ll miss her — big time.”
And she will miss them, too.
But Laird will have her hands full. She is leaving to babysit a grandson, a 4-week old at this writing, which would make him an 8-week-old when she retires. A first-time grandmother, she will be putting retirement in the rear-view mirror. Caring for a grandchild, she said, is what she has wanted for awhile now.
“I would say, ‘dear Lord, let me see that before my time comes,’ and it’s become true,” she said.
And that is especially sweet.
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