The first weekend in May will always be special. Not only does my dad turn a year older, it also is the weekend we opened EVOKE.
May 1st, 2012.
That was the day that felt like the beginning and the end and the in between all at the same time. That’s strange, I know. But it is true. May 1st, 2012 ended the long planning process (you know, that 10 or so years of dreaming I’ve talked about before). It started the next phase of my coffee life and a time for which I had no idea what was coming. It also felt like the middle of a life in coffee that I had always hoped would happen.
May 1st, 2012 will never come and go without a bit of a reflection. Great times. Crazy hard times. Health. Friends. Loss. Family. A community. Change.
We had a tiny kid when this all started. Now we have three ( 10, 7, and 4). We have celebrated weddings for former staffers (family). Watched them begin to raise their own kids. We have seen a Downtown Edmond community flourish, dream, and dare to progress in a way that most thought could never be done in Edmond.
May 1st, 2012 marked so many things I will never forget. Now, I can sit back and enjoy coffee. The shop doesn’t look the same to me. The people are changing. Life is moving fast before my eyes and that feels right. I stand in line with new folks that have no idea who I am and that feels right.
10 years next year.
Last night I was sitting on the porch talking with some friends (both worked behind the bar at EVOKE – one since the very beginning – now are married with a great little gal and a dude on the way) talking about those years. Next May…. 10 years in Downtown Edmond. While I don’t ever believe anyone opens a business and doesn’t believe it will be around.. 10 years seems like a huge milestone. I’m grateful for sure.
Coffee in Oklahoma might feel different now but that’s ok. I won’t forget the people that helped make my little dream come true. I was a kid, we all were, learning on the fly. Making coffee. Having conversations. Making mistakes. Learning from them. We were all just living out life to the song that coffee makes from plant to cup and it was all good.
Original Evoke>>> I miss it!
It was a special place and special time for sure!