It is Wednesday, July 18, 2007. Earlier this month, for the first time in five years, I could think of nothing I “had to go do.” I suppose the time has come to tell the Mocha Moment story. Dozens of times I’ve been asked, “Was this a lifelong dream?” Honestly, “No.” Having been in my former career for 30 years, I thought I would live, work, and die at Oakhill. But the time simply came “to move on.” With nary a thought as to our future, in March, 2002, I walked away from Oakhill (For the record, I do still teach school there part time.). We had discussions with our youngest three children, Amber, Seth, and Jordan, as to what we should do. “Coffee shop” soon surfaced as a viable option.
“Coffee shop” isn’t as crazy of an idea as it first appears. We had the following assets: multiple forbears with family businesses, hospitality skills (Our house was and is “Grand Central.”), and a baker in the house.
Location: Why the South side? We South siders are forever explaining this. We live here! As a one vehicle family, we bicycle many places. Our children were young, and we knew we could greatly reduce commute time and expense while allowing our youngest three to work with us and be independent of us for rides. We tried unsuccessfully to buy several properties within the more normal business area on busy Center Avenue; each fizzled for different reasons. As Spring came and went, we were still without property and puzzled.
A digression: Our overwhelming success often causes us and friends to observe, “Mocha Moment was supposed to happen.” I’ve never been one to say, “God blessed me with a car, safe trip, etc.” “God sends rain and sunshine on everyone, good and bad alike.” But with the collusion of dozens of unlikely events, I do think, “Mocha Moment was supposed to happen. We are indeed fortunate.” Our location was the first of many unlikely events.