A Massachusetts McDonald’s threw a worker with Down syndrome a retirement party for her 32 years of service to the fast food restaurant.  Freia David worked the french fry station at the Chestnut Street McDonald’s in Needham for 32 years before she announced her retirement a few days ago.  “It was nice, I’m really happy,” David told CBS Boston. “I like all my friends here.”

Her friends from the restaurant and the community in Needham came to wish her well.  “When she sees any kids in the lobby, she started making fries and comes out and says ‘Hi sweetie.’ She’s a lovely, lovely girl,” says Rony Sandoval, the restaurant’s manager to CBS Boston.  Her coworkers said that she would give her fellow employees a hug at the beginning of each shift.  “Freia is a terrific employee,” a representative for McDonald’s said to CBS Boston. “We learned a lot more from her than she could ever learn from us.”  David lives at the Charles River Center, a Needham-based home for the developmentally disabled.  She was one of the first people to get a job through the Charles River Center’s job placement program. David said that although she’ll miss her job, she’s looking forward to retirement at the Center, where she will build upon her skills that she’s already learned.  “I get to relax and take care of myself,” she said.

Source: CBS Boston