Covington County Sheriff’s Office members gathered Wednesday to celebrate an employee who is saying goodbye after a more than 20-year career.

Rachel Eddins, the sheriff’s civil clerk, has relinquished her title and will now be starting a new chapter of her life.

“It’s a mixed feeling,” Eddins said. “I’m going to miss everybody because after 21 years, they have become family.”

Eddins said she would miss her coworkers, her job and the people in the community that she’s worked with over the years.

“It’s going to be new and different, but exciting at the same time,” she said.

“You can’t just walk out of their lives, you get used to them and they’re like your family. You spend more awake time with them then your family.”

Eddins told those who had come to wish her good luck, how much she loved them and how she prayed for their safety every day.

“I do worry about these guys out there every day,” she said. “People in the public don’t realize that when they walk out there and leave their family, they may not go back.”

Those who attended the celebration said how much they would miss Eddins, including Sheriff Dennis Meeks, who is the third sheriff she has worked under.

Meeks presented Eddins with a plaque in appreciation of her dedication, loyalty and service to the CCSO and the citizens of the community; a necklace with a sheriffs star pendant; and a University of Alabama football team bracelet.

Eddins said she would fill her time with a little more relaxing and enjoying some of her hobbies, like fishing and traveling.

The first trip she said she hopes to make is to visit her family in Costa Rica.

“I hope to go back and visit my daughter and grandchildren in Costa Rica, soon,” she said. “I hope to go spend some extra time with them and enjoy their company.”