As I sit here in the coffee shop, I have a vague idea of what I want to write about for this blog post. The idea started to come to me a couple of weeks ago, as I was getting ready to go home for the day. I looked up and saw someone I recognized ordering their drink from Melinda. It was someone I hadn’t seen for a year, someone I barely knew. But I was excited to see her. As I looked at her she also looked over at me. She was one of the many people from the Art Farm. I loved that all of these artists and writers would come over to the coffee shop. They would sit here and work or talk. I had talked to her last year about the art that she was working on and found out that she was also a writer. And now here she was again. She told me that this was her third summer coming here to the Art Farm in Aurora, NE. She loved being here and coming to the coffee shop. It truly amazed me, that only chatting with her a little for the last two years, she still remembered my name. It truly shows that even what seems like the smallest of interactions, the smallest of kindnesses matter the most. After that first greeting, we talked about what art she was working on this summer. This year she was going to be focusing on her writing. She wanted to finish this story she had been working on.
I saw her a few more times over the next couple of weeks. Then she came back into the shop on the last day that she was here. We talked some more and she told me she was planning on coming back again next summer. She hadn’t finished the story she had been working on, but I am expecting to be able to read it next summer when she comes back. I gave her a hug before she left. It is this and all of the interactions like this that makes my heart happy.
During this same couple of weeks that Marissa was here, I got another happy surprise. The bell on the door dinged, and I looked up as someone came into the shop. I was very surprised to see that it was Ross. Ross who moved away from us last year, but here he was! He was only here for a very short time. He told me that he would be back in a couple of weeks when he returned from his trip to Germany. Ross is also one of my writer friends that I have made since working here. He would come and sit in the coffee shop and grade papers, or write, or sometimes practice his music. Before he moved last year, we had both shared some goals that we had. It was a way to make each of us accountable for working through them. When he came back in a couple of weeks, I was able to sit down and talk to him more. I had told Maile he was here. She came over quickly. The three of us talked about our goals from last year and what we had been doing this past year. It was really good to see him.
There are days that I have people in here painting or drawing. There are those that are writing. People come in and read. They sit and work on their computers. People filling the coffee shop with little bits of themselves. Even just those that work on my table top activities. They come in here sharing bits of themselves with me. We have art classes and book clubs. The craft nights, book club meetings, or game nights that I sit here with my new friends are times that I treasure.
Three years ago, when we started this place I did not realize just how much these tiny moments would matter, to me or others who walk through our door. I hear over and over from strangers just passing through or regulars who I see often that this place is special. In some way it reminds me of the movie “Field of Dreams”. If you build it they will come. That is what I feel we have been building here, a place where people can work on their dreams, a place where they can feel at home, a place where strangers become friends.
Come on in for a cup of coffee and a moment that matters.
