Longtime Miller’s waitress ready to taste retirement

“May I take your order?” is a question Cathy Larkin has been asking at Miller’s Restaurant for the last 38 years. On Aug. 9, her 65th birthday, she asked it for the last time.

Larkin is hanging up her apron and putting down her order pad to do, well, nothing.

“Absolutely nothing,” she said, laughing. “I will read my book, work on my crossword puzzles, and have no commitments. What a feeling.”

Retirement will allow the Larkin and her husband, Fran, to “pick up and go” whenever they want to.

Fran, who retired six years ago, is happy with Cathy’s decision to stop working. They celebrated their 46th wedding anniversary July 19 and are looking forward to spending more time together.

“I feel good about it,” he said of her retirement. “She deserves it. She has put a lot of time in there and now it’s time to leave.”

For John Miller, owner of Miller’s Restaurant, her departure is bitter sweet.

“We are losing our work horse,” said Miller. “It’s a good move for her, but hard for us. She’s family. And we have been successful because of employees like her. This is a people business and those that have worked here have kept us alive. Losing Cathy is like the end of an era.”

It all began in 1964 when Larkin worked on a bar mitzvah at the Jewish Community Center for Frieda Miller. She was introduced to John’s father, Sonny Miller, and they immediately hit it off. She was hired as a waitress on the spot and never looked back.

“I love my job,” Larkin said, “mostly because of the people. It changes every day with all the different customers. And I have a lot of regular customers who come in and ask for me.”

In fact, some 20 Kiwanis members head to the Crystal Room at Miller’s every Wednesday with the express intention of being served by Larkin.

“I have been waiting on them for seven years,” she said.

Other notables have slid into her booths over the years – comedian Bill Cosby, actress Drew Barrymore, author Norman Mailer, baseball player Brooks Robinson, hockey player Bobby Orr and Miss America, although Larkin can’t recall which one.

“A bunch of us even partied with Christy Hefner, Hugh’s daughter, one night when she was on her way to Brandeis College,” Larkin remembered with a grin. “It was back in the early ’70s. We all went to the Bangor House lounge for a couple of drinks.”

Larkin’s station consisted of five booths and a table which adds up to roughly 25 diners at a time.

“It’s really hard to try and please everybody all the time, but you have to if you want the tip,” she said. “And the tip is key. Some people don’t think about tipping when they have the salad bar because they are serving themselves, but we are still providing drinks and clearing the table. And we won’t get a tip if the customer is unhappy about something, even if it is not our fault.”

She has learned a lot about human nature along the way as well.

“You see people at their best when they’re hungry,” she quipped with a hint of sarcasm.

But in spite of the rough spots, Larkin wouldn’t have done anything else.

“I worked in an office briefly in the 1950s, and didn’t like it,” she said. “I looked at four walls every day and the same people every day. There was no excitement.”

And Larkin thrives on change. When she started working at Miller’s there was only a counter, a bay area and a lounge.

“I have seen almost as many changes in the building as faces that work here,” she laughed. “I was looking at my pay stub, and I am employee number 47. A new girl is number 6,000. I’m really proud of that.”

So, for the first time in 38 years, Larkin will be on the other side of the table. A self-declared soup connoisseur, Larkin has a final word for the chef.

“Keep the soup pot on because I’ll be down for a cup,” she said with a smile.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging in Bangor. For information on EAA services and programs, call Marilyn or Chuck in the Resource and Referral department at 941-2865 or log on www.eaaa.org.