40 thoughts on “Coffee date ”

1. Hi Pascale,
   On this coffee date, we’re sitting on my front porch in my swing…my favorite spot! I’m having a mocha with extra whip cream because you can’t ever have too much chocolate or whip cream! My hero is Patrice, he’s thought me so much about love, acceptance, patience, determination and many other qualities that were hard for me to come by before he came into our lives. Sophie, our 9 year old, is who I want to be when I grow up…she’s such a generous person and Patrice’s best defender (when he needs it). For me, family is what’s most important and I try very hard to be the mom my kids deserve. That can some times be hard because I’m a little bit obsessive about being organised and neat….kids are great at making you realize that life isn’t organised and neat!!!! Our house is always a little messy but we laugh everyday! When I actually have free time, I enjoy reading and painting…Sophie has started painting with me so it’s a great mother-daughter activity. Patrice is my walking buddy…that’s when we have the best chats. That’s it for now…next time instead of coffee, maybe we could have ice cream! With chocolate and whip cream 😉

   • Thank you Micheline! Emily and you would get along really well with your love of chocolate and whip cream. Patrice and Sophie are great kids 🙂

2. And speaking less personally I love what you’re doing with your blog. I’ve noticed that in midst of your blogs about your life, you also have some blogs to interact with your readers. I like it.

   • Thank you!

3. Hello, I’m Anshumanth. I’m drinking coffee with so much sugar that it’s basically a soft-drink. I get outraged by injustices easily, even if it doesn’t affect me directly, like gay rights not being granted, or honour Killing,or gender discrimination… I’ve gone through a sad phase that enabled me to write all the dark stuff,but when I’m up,I laugh a lot, and love humour,which explains the other stuff I write. I love reading :and always have to be reading. While eating,if I have no entertainment, I even read the label on the ketchup satchet. Oh,maybe I should tell you I’m 18, and Indian. I’ve also written too much maybe, so I’ll end now

   • Hello Anshumanth. I use to read cereal boxes during breakfast 😊so I can relate to the ketchup satchet reading! I am also offended by injustices. You sound like you have figured out a big part of life already at 18… You are way ahead of many. Thank you for sharing!

4. Okay I lied, this wS my second visit to your blog. Lol

   • 😃 no worries!

5. We’re at this lovely tea house I once went to with an old friend of mine in Tennessee. It’s beautiful because it’s ou in the country and literally is a house. A beautiful house with all manner of vintage and vintage inspired things to buy and look at. Jewelry, clothes, tea sets. Basically, anything you can think of that belongs on the elegant movie set of a movie from the Breakfast at Tiffany’s era. I’m having this delicious, tea blend that sounded like it wouln’t taste good but turned out to be delicious.
   I’d have to say as of right now, I’m my own hero because it wouldn’t be fair to put that kind of pressure on my Little Thunder Bear. He is the list brightest light in my world but I don’t want him to grow up with that same stifling feeling I did. I was my mother’s security blanket/happiness bunny and that really ruined any chances of us having a healthy relationship.
   But I think that’s where a lot of my strength comes from; holding my mother up all those years until finally I couldn’t take it anymore. I’m also new to your blog and this is my first visit. I’m a very open person by nature so I find socializing to be hard to do without getting hurt or accidentally doin the hurting.
   I want so badly to learn how to knit and play the piano. I’m working on he knitting thing. Next comes the piano.
   On thing I will never figure out is the innately human need to be right all the time.
   It’s nice to meet you, I’m Jacqueline. ♡

   • Nice to meet you Jacqueline.
     I’ve read some of your posts and have to say that you appear to be really strong
     When I say my daughter is my hero, I mean it in the way that she’s faced daily with challenges due to her having cri du chat syndrome. She’s had many doctor appointments (more in her younger years) lots of therapies, some surgeries but here she is at 17 laughing and enjoying life! She’s my hero because of her outlook on life and her happiness. She finds it (happiness) everywhere.
     Oh, if we were meeting in a tea house, I would be drinking tea with you and maybe have some tiny sandwiches! 🙂
     I hope you will continue reading my blog, it was nice having you over for a visit!

     • Oh I knew what you meant about your daughter being your hero. Sorry if I seemed like I was projecting onto you. My son just so happens to be just shy of two years old and already he tries to be my little man and make me happy when I’m down and help me waddle around the house. Like he’ll drop whatever he’s doing to run over to me and try and help me off the couch or out of bed. He tries to help me with the housework and just anything a person could do to make things easier for a pregnant woman. I type that first line over and over before finally deciding on myself as my hero because he has been my hero lately and I feel bad about how much emotional support he’s been to me. I just don’t want to be like my mother.
       And little sandwiches and afternoon tea sounds so awesome, really. ^_^ ♡
       I’ll definitely be continuing to read your blog as I’m a lead a loyal follower. Keep up the great blogging, shug! ♡

     • I understood what you meant! Your little boy is compassionate which is good. As long as you don’t rely on him, you will not be like your mother. You are raising a great kid!

6. Time for me to get in on this…

   I’m Joe and I am drinking a lemon soft drink. I work as a labourer in an abattoir which also happens to be the largest employer in my home town…. I have been there almost 9 years (will be 9 years Tuesday week). I absolutely love travelling and learning about the people who I happen to be around…. I’m single and have a goddaughter (this was an absolute surprise when I was asked to do this – I wasn’t expecting a text message asking me to do it!) who will be 6 next birthday.I love dolphins (as you have seen in a previous blog entry) – the first time I ever saw a dolphin was off the coast of Port Stephens, NSW, Australia (dolphin capital of Australia)…..

   • Thank you for sharing Joe! I’m still learning about you 🙂 My godson just turned 6 too! He’s just the best!

     • That’s just a condensed version – I have plenty more to share yet!

7. I’m June, I am a social work student and I am a volunteer with the Cavalier Riding Club. I have walked beside Emily many times while she was riding (not that she needed me there) and I recently discovered your blog. This morning, I enjoyed a cup of the Level Ground Ethiopia coffee. Although I spend most of my time studying, my spare time consists of spending time at the barn, taking care of my two cats, painting watercolours or enjoying a book with a matcha latte. My dream is to one day have an equine sanctuary to welcome abused or unwanted horses.

   • Thank you June!

     Although it looks like Emily might not always require a side walker, we all appreciate you volunteering and I feel much better knowing her side walkers are never far.
     THANK YOU for donating your time to the Cavalier Riding club!

   • I hit reply to quickly.
     I hope you are enjoying my blog.
     Emily paints with acrylic, I’ve wondered about watercolor but I’m not artistic so I really don’t know the difference and if she would like watercolor. Maybe one day!

     We love matcha tea in our house… We have 2 or 3 different types.

     Keep studying, we need social workers out there with a compassionate heart! 🙂

     I hope one day you will have your equine sanctuary!

8. Hi, my name is Kate, I’m a single mother to a wonderful 17 year old boy who is so quickly becoming a man, my head is spinning! 🙂 He gave a promise ring to his girlfriend last week. It’s nicer that some engagement rings!! But, I’m super proud of him and know that he will do well as he grows and lives his life. Today is the start of the last 100 days of the year so I just finished evaluating my priorities and goals and made of list of what I want to focus on and accomplish the rest of the year – then I colored it!

   As far as yoga goes, I do mine from the comfort of my living room and love it like you wouldn’t believe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNzYcdg3bBmC5eHOSQXzisA Dr. Melissa West, Namaste Yoga. She is great about showing modifications and I love that about her.

   Oh, and I LOVE Pinterest. 😀

   • Pinterest….. What am I supposed to do there and how do I publicize my blog to it??? So many questions.

     Living room yoga? I might have to give that a try, I just can’t quite motivate myself once I’m home…

     Coloring your goals and priorities? Can I see? I love the idea but I know from reading your blog that I am nowhere near as creative as you are…. Inspire me please 🙂

     Thank you for joining me for coffee!

9. I think you may know a bit about me already but here goes:
   I’m married with 3 boys, one autistic
   We live in an old farmhouse in the country, working on the remodel bits at a time
   Love photography, whitewater kayaking, travel, music, the ocean
   I’m an Occupational Therapist
   That’s the basics.

   • I did know some of that already 🙂

     Have I told you how Emily’s first OT believed I should made a career change and go back to school to be an OT? She thought I would be great at it…

     I don’t know how many time I told her that I was doing what I was doing because it was for Emily and didn’t believe I had it in me to do the same for strangers…

     We settled this disagreement with me agreeing to be a guest speaker at McGill University – OT class. I did that on 2 or 3 occasions.

     How far is your farmhouse from the ocean?

     • That’s awesome! I think you probably would make a good OT. As far as the ocean, we live in Kentucky, so our closest access to the ocean is the Gulf coast. Most people from here go to Destin or Gulf Shores. I love the Gulf coast, and go to Mississippi coast, Long Beach, frequently to see my SIL and niece and nephew. My MIL lived there for 25+ years before she died. And I lived in New Orleans for while in my 20’s, and still go every time we’re in MS. But my ultimate is Ocracoke Island, NC. We go twice a year and hope to live there ASAP! 😃

     • Ocracoke Island, NC. I had never heard it so I googled it. What a lovely island. Would you like to live there all year round?

     • Absolutely. It has only around 100 year-round residents. It’s busy in summer with vacationers and somewhat in the fall with anglers. But it’s so small, isolated, and protected that there’s a finite amount of people that can be there at once. It’s 12 miles long and the entire beach line is protected under the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Nothing is built on the beach, and never will be. It’s perfect!

     • I’ve lived near by and worked at a seaside resort town. Winters were eerie….. I remember days where in a rather large hotel, there was me, 1 chef, 1 front desk agent and 1 family (guests). It’s the perfect set-up (plot) for an horror movie :).
       I hope your dream comes true and you get to move there. My google search makes it look like an awesome place!

     • I sure hope so too, and the sooner the better! Yeah, when the tourists disappear, the ghost town effect is odd. But I don’t mind the isolation, having it all to myself thing. It is definitely a beautiful place. Unfortunately it’s not far enough south to not be cold in the winter, but we live it so much I’d be willing to put up with it. 😃

     • Is there a school on the island for the boys?

       I was looking at the Seychelles awhile back as a potential place to relocate one day 🙂 there isn’t much option for school there after high school… Emily probably won’t be able to do post-secondary education but I thought that was interesting info on that island…

     • Yes, there’s a K-12 school on the island. I’m guessing these maybe 30-40 kids in the entire school. They’d get plenty of one-on-one attention! 😃

     • Gotta love little schools 🙂

10. wonderful coffee date – i have 3 daughters, all now married and grown, each with 2 young children, 6 grandies for me ), a neurotic cat named nacho, a wonderful bf named mg who coaches and works with children of all ages, am a kindergarten teacher and love every day of my job. i love glitter, collage, homemade cards and gifts, sports, music, art and walking. love to laugh and love. i love the human story, and admire, compassion, kindness and grit in humanity. how’s that for a beginning?

    • I love this post.

      Thank you for sharing!

      Kindergarten teachers who loves her job :). Reminds me of my mom! It takes someone special to be a kindergarten teacher as you help shape those little people :).

      That’s a great beginning!

      Can you tell me what is it in my blog that keeps you reading? You’ve been with me from really early on…

      As for me, your blog is a breath of fresh air. You make me smile and think. I love it when people make me think!

      • hi pascale – i love your positive attitude and approach to life, and that you see emily as having gifts rather than deficits. that is how i view people as well –

      • I was raised by a kindergarten teacher who saw the best side of all her students. She saw potential everywhere and had a vision of life that was highly influenced be those toddlers 🙂
        I think you two have a lot in common 🙂
        Thank you for reading and sharing in my blogging journey!
        I like having you read and comments along the way!

11. My name is Brenda and I’m drinking a cup of Swiss Mocha. I’ve been a home daycare provider for 35 yrs. I have helped raise over 75 children. I currently watch my grandson and two other children that are siblings. One three year old I watch has Cri Du Chat syndrome. He brings great joy to my life! I have learned so much from this little guy. He amazes me daily!
    I have been married for 35 years to my childhood sweetheart! We have two adult children who are both married. We became grandparents to Kohen one year ago! Being a grandma is the most awesome thing!
    We are corn and soybean farmers. My hubby is harvesting our crops now. We are fortunate to have good crops this year.
    I enjoy spending time with my family! I love to walk, bike, read, and travel to new places. It was nice joining you for a cup of coffee!

    • Hi Brenda!
      I’ve learned so much about you here. What a great coffee date!
      I love how you say that you helped raise over 75 children. I’ve always preferred home based daycare for Emily and I always picked where she would go based on the operator as they became a big part of Emily’s life and our life.
      I had no ideas you were farmers. That is hard work.
      I feel like I know so much more about you now.
      Thank you for sharing!

12. I have learned that heroes don’t really exist. It is up to me to save myself so I guess you could say I rely on myself to be my own hero.
    I get my strength from God and the love I so deeply feel for everyone. I really want to be an example of compassion and kindness.
    I love yoga! It is my dirty little secret. When I walk in that room and all I have to do is breathe, I feel free.
    I would love to learn to play the guitar or piano but I probably never will. I have this fantasy that it is Christmas Eve and my family is gathered around while I play and we all sing Christmas songs as the snow softly falls on the ground!
    I love this idea. I too like to get to know people better. People are so different and interesting 😉

    • Thank you for sharing.

      I have tried yoga and will keep trying until I can find the place you talk about. I know it’s there… 🙂

      I’ve learn I lot about you today.

      • And I’ve learned more about you. I always love reading your posts 😉

      • Thank you!