At the age of ninety-five, Eloïse Luzader finally retires after spending twenty-nine years serving customers at the Gateway Café in Manoa, University of Hawaii.
“Young people allow me to be dynamic. They push me to stay young,” she says energetically.
Even though she has to leave her job with a heavy heart, she thinks this is the best time for it.
“I will miss young people because I consider them to be my driving force and my vitality,” she says.
Its relationship with young people goes beyond a simple commercial contact. She sees them as her own grandchildren.
“Just coming to the bridge to greet her is a real delight,” says Jace Valentine, one of the students. »
Obviously, her departure will be heavy to bear, however, I am happy that she will finally be able to rest a little. She really needs it.
In addition to her role as cashier, Ms. Luzader boasts of having played the role of matchmaker on several occasions, contributing to three unions born from coffee dates.
“A few years ago, a young girl wanted me to put her in contact with a young man. I told him: ‘OK, but then you’ll have to manage without me,'” she jokes.
Despite the thousand or so students she welcomes every day, she remembers their names, although she says she has no preference for each of them.
Eloise Luzader is passing away, but her legacy will live on in the hearts and memories of all those she contacted at Café Gateway.
