Today, we met up with my husband’s former coworker and current friend, both to visit with him and (but mostly) to have him meet the baby. It worked out with the beautiful obvious hand of God. We had a morning appointment, and I felt we should reach out to him. It turned out, all his kids were at daycare and school today, so he was on his own. What’s more, he happened to be at a laundromat right by our house in order to wash a big comforter. In the middle of discovering this information, my husband received notice that power had gone out at our house. We stopped by to confirm this, and then went down the road to meet up with the friend at the laundromat.
When we arrived, we found him sitting at a table with two books open, and only a single Hispanic woman across the room, doing her own laundry. My husband commented something to the effect of that he was doing his studies and having his quiet time, cozied up and settled in – he looked very comfortable, like this was his happy place.
He laughed, but began to explain that it kind of was so. He did take this time each week or two to have some focused alone time with a book and with a prayer book.
I commented, “It’s your coffee shop.” He agreed that it was.
He then got to meet our daughter and hold her for a while before we all went to lunch (quick note that she slept through all of lunch, and it was, again, a blessing from God for us to get to visit so well and so long and so uninterrupted with this friend – we pretty much never get that with him). It was adorable how delighted he was holding her. He’s also a proportionate 6’5″ perhaps, so, with her asleep in his arms, he made her look tiny in a way she hasn’t looked since she was born. It was truly great, and I am quite glad that he got to meet her on his own, so he truly got to be present and enjoy being with her in a way he couldn’t have done with his own four young children present.
So, we all just sat there in the laundromat, chilling and chatting, as if we were at a real coffee shop, until his comforter finished drying. It was a great time. I kept thinking how distracted I was in the space, and how interesting it is how we all find our own ideal spaces for ourselves, and how different they all can be. We were in his coffee shop today…
And I just loved the whole concept. That his coffee shop is a laundromat. It is not often that financial and racial, social lines cross for someone’s coffee shop. Not that it would be very loud with a telenovela blasting on a large tv hanging from the ceiling, along with washers and dryers humming loudly along around the room. But that was exactly what his coffee shop was, is. His study space, indeed, was a laundromat.
He even mentioned that there are times on certain days that loads of people are there doing laundry services for their business. On those days, when he sees all their vehicles, he turns around and heads back home – not the day for him to wash the comforter. He comes for quiet. Relatively speaking, that is.
Today, he had it. And it was adorable and a bit inspiring to see. It felt nostalgic, somehow, really… ❤
Post-a-day 2025
hannah ananas 