Pedalling kindness and serving smiles

For more than twenty-two years, Marie has been the warm heart of the canteen at Killarney Community College. Every weekday from 9am until 2pm she prepared fresh food from scratch, served generations of students and staff and somehow managed to nourish far more than empty bellies.

"There was never a day that I hated getting up out of bed to go to school," Marie told me.

Now there's a sentence you don't hear every day. I couldn't help thinking there were probably quite a few students over the years who might not have shared that same enthusiasm for early mornings.

When the school's Breakfast Club became part of her day, it meant an earlier start, but she never saw it as another job to do. She saw it as another opportunity to be there for the young people walking through the school gates.

Schools are remarkable places because every child arrives carrying a story that nobody else can see. Some bounce through the gates full of excitement while others quietly carry worries far bigger than their school bags. You never truly know what kind of morning a child has had before they arrive. Sometimes all it takes is one familiar smile, one cheerful greeting or one person noticing they're a little quieter than usual to make the day feel just that little bit lighter.

Marie was that person.

She had an ear to the ground without ever making a fuss about it. She knew when to chat, when to encourage and, just as importantly, when to quietly step back.

By lunchtime, however, there was no mistaking who was in charge.

"I'm sure you could hear me over in the Sem telling the children I'd close the canteen if I didn't see two clear lines," she laughed.

Among the many treasured retirement cards she received were messages that read, "Marie, you never did close the canteen," and another that admitted, "Marie, I think I owe you about €30."

"There was no backchat from the students," she said. "I find a 'Hello, how are you?' costs a person nothing."

As a testament to just how much Marie meant to school life, a group of students approached members of the teaching staff looking for photographs of her. They carefully put together a scrapbook filled with memories and presented it to her before she left. It was a gift made not because they had to, but because they wanted to.

Outside school, Marie is almost as well known around Killarney for her bicycle as she is for her sandwiches. She has never driven and happily pedals her way around town in every season. Her trusty basket even sports a homemade rain cover fashioned from a plastic tablecloth because, as any seasoned cyclist knows, you have to be prepared for every forecast.

When she is not cycling, she is creating.

Crochet, knitting, sewing, cooking, Marie simply cannot sit still.

"I always need a project," she smiled.

During the years she worked evening classes in the school canteen, she longed to join the sewing class herself but could never leave the canteen unattended. Instead, she listened while she worked, picked up what she could, bought herself a sewing machine in Lidl and went home and made herself a skirt. That one skirt was only the beginning.

Family, of course, will now take centre stage.

Marie and her husband Donie have three children, Colm, Alan and Aoife, along with five adored grandchildren. Little Gracie is just six weeks old, while Theo, Noah, Ori and Ailbhe ensure there is never a shortage of fun.

This August promises to be one big family celebration. Aoife will be home from the United States with her family, Alan will travel from Alicante, where he teaches, to celebrate his fortieth birthday, and Colm and his family will make the journey from Cork. Add in Donie's seventieth birthday and there will be plenty to celebrate.

"We'll do something small as a family," Marie smiled, "but I'd love us all to go away together for a night or two."

Marie may have parked her apron, but don't expect her to put the brakes on.

Deirdre, one of her colleagues, smiled as she remembered that Marie's favourite word was "Nowso."

Karen said the echo of Marie's infectious laugh will be missed throughout the school.

Marie Keane wished her "a retirement as wonderful as you are."

Friend and colleague Brian O'Reilly perhaps summed it up best when he said, "Retirement is not the end of the road for Marie. It's the beginning of a new adventure."

Retirement may mean the end of Marie's daily cycle to Killarney Community College, but the kindness she quietly pedalled into the lives of generations of young people over the past twenty two years will continue long after the school bell rings. Every morning she offered far more than breakfast. She offered familiarity, encouragement and the reassuring feeling that someone had noticed them. In a busy school, and in an even busier world, that is a gift beyond measure.

Knowing Marie, retirement won't slow her down. There will be sewing projects to finish, grandchildren to spoil, bicycles to pedal and plenty of new adventures to enjoy. The bicycle will still be rolling through the streets of Killarney. It will just have a little more time to enjoy the journey.

Photo & Story by Marie Carroll O'Sullivan