Wednesday, February 16, 2011

My Favorite Barista


Today is my 9 year wedding anniversary.  (Happy Anniversary Christy!)  Did you know:

we eloped after 2 weeks of engagement?
to Las Vegas?
gone from Bean Traders for less than 48 hours?
none of our staff or family knew we were even out of town till we got back? 

Wow.

Christy and I would not be together if it were not for coffee. We met when I was almost 16. I stopped for coffee as I usually did on the way to school. She was there working -the new barista. When I saw her, there was almost a halo of light above her head.  I'll never forget it. The way I felt inside at that moment I had never felt before or since. I didn't really understand at the time. I was face to face with my soulmate for the first time.

There were hurdles for us to conquer like the fact she didn't realize I was alive. No surprise since I was barely 16 and she 21. I spent a lot of time pining for Christy at CoffeeWorks. She was beautiful and care free with thick  flowing blond hair everywhere. She had an electric smile that lit up the whole room. She innocently and unknowingly seduced me with her tight barista skills and loose gauzy hippie shirts. When I first laid eyes on her we were in different worlds. She left CoffeeWorks when I was a junior in high school. I never thought I would see her again. She left in a VW bus to drive across America. The last words I told her were in 'another life' we would be going on that trip not her and her boyfriend.  I told her it should be me driving that bus. She looked at me with amusement while her boyfriend looked confused.

Life moved on. I graduated high school and crash  and burned at college. I also began working as a barista first in Asheville from spring 2000 till January 2001.  I moved back to Charlotte that new year and got the chance of a lifetime.  I was offered the job to become the new roaster and a barista  for CoffeeWorks.  No one said yes faster to a job offer than when Bruce asked me to give it a try. Working for CoffeeWorks made me know I wanted to be in coffee. 

I'll never forget the moment she reappeared. Early Spring 2001. I'm sitting out front of the shop. Pushing open the glass front door that always reflects blinding sunlight rays....there she was....asking if anyone had a light.  I did.  Soon we were chit chatting, catching up, and laughing.  No more obstacles in our way.  Quickly we started dating from a distance. I was in Charlotte working at CoffeeWorks. She was in Durham opening Bean Traders.

The writing was on the wall. It was all there in front of me. Christy. Durham. Bean Traders. Destiny.  I moved here November 30 2001.  Hit the ground running.  Amazing!

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