For 16 years, Sarah Fiacco relished her job as a stay-at-home mom, never missing a recital or basketball game. Now she’s finding purpose as a lunch lady.
“Never did I imagine at 40 years old I’d be working in my kids' school cafeteria full-time,” Fiacco wrote on a luxury buy and sell Facebook page. “Honestly, I struggled accepting (the position) because it’s not necessarily a ‘dream job.’ I was even embarrassed to share here. But, I’m here to say in less than two weeks, I already have a deeper sense of satisfaction than I’ve ever had."
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In her post, Fiacco included a photo of a handwritten card she received from a kindergarten student. It reads: “Thank you! For the lunch. From Olivia.”
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“Sure, my feet are sore. My hands are dry and I’m dreaming about chicken nuggets but getting this note reminded me why I said, yes,” Fiacco wrote. “I hope this job can be so much more than just serving food. Maybe this post will encourage one of you to find joy in unexpected ways.”
Fiacco and her husband, Bryce Fiacco, a lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, relocated to Alabama from Virginia last year with their children, Kinsley, 16, Carter, 13, Kason, 10, and Kendall, 6.
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In Virginia, Fiacco used word-of-mouth marketing to build a successful home bakery business.
“It was very lucrative, and I loved it,” Fiacco tells TODAY.com. “Then the military moved us — and people here were just not as interested in what I baked.”
Fiacco was disappointed but not defeated.
“I was like, ‘OK. I just need to pivot,’” she says.
To earn extra income, Fiacco began substitute teaching at Prattville Christian Academy. When the school offered her a permanent position, she declined. It just didn’t feel like the right fit. Then they floated another opportunity as a food service associate.
“I never thought that this is where I’d be, but it’s fantastic,” Fiacco says. “This week I’m on the registers. Last week I did dishes. It’s very fast paced. And the best part is that I get to see my kids. They come to visit me.
“They’re proud of what I do,” she adds.
Fiacco says she was mid shift when Olivia approached her holding a piece of paper.
“She handed it to me through the window and was like, ‘I want you to have that,’ and I almost cried,” Fiacco says. “It’s not a glamorous job, but I’m making a difference.”
Fiacco hung Olivia’s note on her bathroom mirror as a daily reminder of exactly that.
In April, Fiacco shared on the same Facebook page that she was debating the cafeteria job and "looking for words of encouragement."
"Just here to say that my kids talk about ‘Chef Jen’ more than any other employee in their entire 6 years of elementary school. Those ladies make a MASSIVE difference!" one person wrote.
Added another, "The most beloved person in the high school where I teach is ‘lunch lady Barb,’ who knows kids personally by name and participates in all our pep assemblies! She recently retired and the senior students chose her as the person they wanted to read their names at graduation — so she did."
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
