Over the past few years, I've developed a love for coffee. I'm lucky enough to not only enjoy a delicious vanilla/Irish cream cappuccino (now named "The Furgie") on a regular basis but to also be close friends with the owner of Oxford's only independently-owned coffee shop- Liz Snyder. Yes. I'm name-dropping. In case you don't know, she's sort of famous in our little college town. Seriously. Try having dinner with her uptown sometime- it is nearly impossible to make it through the meal without getting approached by someone she knows... which is just something I've come to accept with time.
My behind-the-scenes perspective is a unique one that allows me to see the insane amount of hard work that goes into keeping Kofenya great as well as the emotional and relational aspects that play into many of the decisions made. As Liz's roommate, I've had a front row seat over the past 2 years to the joys, celebrations, sorrows, and frustrations that have highlighted her life as Kofenya's head.
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| In September, Kofenya celebrated its 8th birthday |
From hearing the story of "How did you start Kofenya?!?!" told 800,000,000 times to intrigued new friends, to riding along on the 45-minute-long trip to Blue Ash to pick up Chai orders, to learning the Sam's Club order so well that I could do the shopping by myself, my sideline involvement in Kofenya life has definitely been adventurous to say the least.
It is unknown how many people's lives have been positively impacted by this little coffee shop's existence. I would venture to say that it's a really really big number.
In Russian, Kofenya means "café" but when I hear the word Kofenya, there are other things that come to mind:
Friendship. Complexity. Taking risks. Making mistakes.
Culture of grace.
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