Robin has worked at Jean’s Place diner for 24 years, she is, in many ways, the Queen of Jean’s place, unless Kelly, (Jean’s daughter) is on hand. Kelly is a monarch for sure, she can be demanding, she can be loving.

Robin is the kind of waitress you sometimes see in movies, but rarely encounter. She is the greeter and the one who always says goodbye.

She knows how I take my coffee and what I want on my pancakes. She says hello, but rarely stops to chat, she is too busy. She is a constant motion machine, rushing from one end of the diner to the other like some old metronome.

Today, I shocked her by ordering oatmeal other than my short stack of oat bran pancakes with two strips of bacon (Maria takes one.) “What, no usual,  no pancakes?,” she said. “No bacon?” She insisted on putting blueberries into the oatmeal and pushed hard for oat bran bread.

I admit I like to be known in this way, it feels like home even on the first visit.

Somehow, when we are finished eating, the check just appears. When I write about Robin – I hope to take her photo regularly – a significant percentage of Hoosick Falls people message me.

My blog is not a local one, it is a national one, so I am surprised to get these messages, there must be a lot of sharing on Facebook.

I have heard from Robin’s neighbors, family, friends and at least four people who insist she is their best friends. She has a lot of friends.

Most of them tell me to be discreet, and although I have lots of information about Robin’s life and good deeds, I will, of course, not say too much about her.

They describe a loving, generous and hard working person. They thank me for calling attention to her. I can tell you that I do not have a fraction of the friends Robin has, and I doubt too many of them would fuss over me if I croaked.

Robin  is much loved in and out of the diner. When I took out my camera, she leaned forward and waved, she was buzzing from one end of the restaurant to the other. I caught her wave.