Sharon Hayden made no bones about it.

“I almost lost it,” Hayden said when speaking of saying goodbye to her coworkers at the Troy Post Office Thursday. “It was emotional. It was hard to say goodbye. I almost pulled the paperwork for my retirement on Dec. 2. I didn’t think that I deserved to retire.”

After Dec. 3, there was no turning back. For Hayden, the deed was done.

Thursday was a bittersweet day. She received congratulations, flowers, gifts and best wishes, which she accepted with misty eyes and a lump in the throat.

Hayden had thought that retirement would come, but a little farther down the road.

“But last year was the worst year of my life,” Hayden said. “It started when the dogs I’d had for so many years died. Then I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I started thinking that we’re not guaranteed tomorrow. I wanted to have time to spend with my family and to do some of the things that I’ve not had time to do. In retirement, if I decide I want to go to Greenville, South Carolina and see my sons, I can just take off.”

Sharon and Frank Hayden’s sons, Preston and Ryan, work for the Greenville Road Warriors ice hockey team and she has become quite a fan of the sport.

Hayden’s years with the Troy Post Office have afforded her the opportunity to interact with the people of Troy on a daily basis.

“When you deal with the public, you’ll have bad days,” she said. “But there have not been many of them. What I like so much about Troy, about my job, is that you get to know so many people. I can walk in stores in Troy and people will call me by name and ask how I’m doing and what I’ve been up to. That makes me feel good.”

Hayden has been at the Troy Post Office long enough to know many of the customers by name and she always make sure to acknowledge them by name.

“My customers said they will miss me and I will miss them,” she said. “You don’t do something as long as I have and not miss it. But I am looking forward to my retirement and, especially, not having to be at work at five o’clock in the morning.”

Hayden, a native of Pensacola, served four years in the Air Force before moving to Troy with her husband and one-year-old son.

“We moved around a lot when I was growing up and I attended 26 different elementary schools,” Hayden said. “I didn’t want our sons to grow up like that. So, we stayed here in Troy and we’ve been very happy here. Frank went to Troy and our sons did, too. We love Troy. This is home but I miss my boys and that’s what I’m looking forward to the most, spending time with them.”

Hayden is skilled in many different crafts. She even hangs wallpaper and lays tile, so she said there will be plenty to do. And, if she runs out of things to do, she just might pull up a chair and take a few minutes of well-deserved “time out.”