Working past the age of 60 years old is not for the faint-hearted. But for a lot of people, there is no choice but to do so. A lot of people of retirement age still live paycheck to paycheck.
This is a wonderful story about a family standing up for someone and helping her to be able to retire.
72-year-old Barbara Gillespie was doing her job as she normally does, working as a pizza delivery person. She was delivering an order for a local family when an incident occurred. After which Lacey Keighron who the order was for, decided to change her life.
She had the pizza boxes in one hand and her bag in the other. She stepped onto the family’s porch and then suddenly tripped which prompted her to drop the food. Lacey Keighron’s husband stepped out and asked Gillespie if she was okay and offered help.
The entire incident was caught on the family’s security camera. And Lacey decided to post it on TikTok to garner sympathy for Gillespie. She later started a GoFundMe page to help raise money for Gillespie so that she could retire.
Gillespie’s story and struggle hit home for the couple because it seemed all too familiar. Lacey said, “Our motivation really was that both of our fathers (Keighron’s father and her husband Kevin’s father) retired late in life and both died from terminal cancer. It really resonated in our hearts when we saw her (Gillespie) still working at her age and reminded us of both our fathers.”
Keighron informed The State in South Carolina that she had contacted the local Domino’s to get Gillespie’s full name so she could be the beneficiary for the GoFundMe money. The outlet also reported that Keighron and her daughters went to the Domino’s to deliver the good news to Gillespie personally.
The fundraiser managed to raise over $254,438! Enough to help Gillespie retire comfortably. On February 9, 2023, Keighron shared with followers that the 72-year-old had handed in her two weeks notice.
Keighron said Gillespie shared hopes of being able to go on a cruise and travel to Europe during her retirement with the help of the money.
Domino’s pizza also gave a statement about Gillespie’s retirement saying, “Barbara is a beloved member of our family and she was recently honored with Team Member of the Year for 2022 within my company. She is also a favorite of our customers and always has a smile on her face. We are all very thrilled that these caring customers were able to help her transform her life so meaningfully. We are very happy for her.”
I really hope Barbara Gillespie is now able to enjoy her retirement in peace, however, she wants! Share this inspiring article with others to remind them there are still good people in this world.