All good things must come to an end.

Donna Sweeney, a team member for 35 years at T’s Restaurant, has just retired from her job.

“At T’s, so much of what we do and have always aimed to do is sharing the experience with you. The laughs, the smiles, even the tears … we’ve watched for more than 35 years as T’s has been that place where people come together to share in this journey of life,” said co-founder and co-owner Tina Tomaselli.

She added: “For us, it’s about our team members and our guests, and we are never more reminded of this than as we bid farewell to our treasured team member, Donna Sweeney.”

“A team member for over 35 years, it is hard to put into words a proper goodbye to someone whose tireless energy has graced our restaurant for decades,” said Anthony Tomaselli, co-founder and co-owner of T’s. “Trying to write a quote about Donna is virtually impossible for me personally and also as her ‘Boss,’ as she often called me.”

He continued: “For 35 something years we rode a whirlwind of a roller coaster together. From her interview, which was simply standing over a grill and cooking an over light egg, to hours of working in the kitchen together. The quote that people often use, ‘I have your back,’ is a quote that I can use to describe her relationship to me. She had my back and T’s back in most everything she did. She worked with our interest in the forefront.”

“I want to thank Anthony and Tina for giving me the opportunity for spending part of my life working at T’s. In the 35 years I’ve work with many great people I will miss being there,” said Sweeney.

“Donna once wrote in a Father’s Day card to me, that I am the father that she never had … at that point I was honored with her feelings. But beyond that, there is a responsibility that I carry as well. And hopefully I can be that father for her moving forward,” Tomaselli said.

Speaking highly of Donna was longtime customer Kathy Gillen.

“I have been going to T’s since I moved to Cranston in 1988. I used to be there every day, but this lousy pandemic has changed everything and since I retired from work and don’t get up and out early, I don’t get there as often as I used to. That being said, it is still one of my all-time favorite places,” said Gillen.

She added: “When I first started going to T’s, Donna was one of the line cooks; she was always checking to be sure my eggs were the way I liked them, always coming up to the counter to say hi. We would always talk a little and I grew to really like her. In those days T’s did a great catering business and she used to make my ‘Christmas calzones,’ and when I brought them to my mom on Christmas Eve they were gone in a flash. She always seemed to ‘put a little extra’ in them and wrapped it so carefully and they were a big favorite with my family always. You could tell she took great pride in her work.”

When the catering finished up, Gillen said, Sweeney would be working more on the line but also making muffins and scones daily.

“She knew I had a thing for scones; they were really special and she would come up to the counter in the morning and whisper, ‘I got one scone left,’ and it would not be left after I got there! Again we’d be talking about nothing really but laughing and just being friends,” said Gillen.

“Every morning that she was there she’d make a point to come out to the counter for a coffee and to say hi. I am really pleased that she has joined the ranks of the retired because she does deserve to have some time to enjoy herself,” she said.