A Cup of Conversation – May 2015

Our house had just burned down. A few weeks later my wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, not the best of times. I mention this only because it was during this season Mikie walked into my life. It’s always when we’re the most distracted by our own issues that opportunity to make a difference in the life of another slips away. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

I’d first seen Mike and his friend come into the Jacksonville store just hanging out and observing things. They were young, barely early twenties. Both were polite yet very interested in how things were being done. One day they approached me and introduced themselves. The two young men wanted to get into the coffee business. The one friend talked pretty fast and I missed most of what he was saying. Mike didn’t say much but I could tell he was a deep well. There was something hard and troubled about him yet unmistakable kindness was in his eyes. A great deal was going on in my life so who knows why I agreed to sit down and hear them out. We met several times but weeks would go by without hearing from them. I didn’t think much more about it until one day when the phone rang. The voice was professional, polished and to the point. He introduced himself and asked if I would consider sitting down with him and his son to discuss some business opportunities. After a moment or so everything came into focus. The man on the line was Mike’s father who happened to be a well-known commercial developer in the Pacific Northwest. I agreed to meet.

There was palpable tension in the board room between father and son. Mike’s dad was direct. He was in the position to help his son. The boy’s father was the guy people like me called to get into his commercial centers. He had my attention. Dad thanked me for spending time with Mikie and wanted to be clear his son was going through a rough few years and was looking to get serious about starting his life. Was I interested in doing something together? I asked Mike a few pointed questions. He was unvarnished about where choices had taken him and wanted a change. The look on his dad’s face was text-book prodigal son returning home. How could I say no? I suggested we start with Mike shadowing me for a month. The young man agreed and asked when? I said five, tomorrow, and then every day

Monday through Friday. Five in the afternoon? Mike was sincere in the question. The father smiled but looked down and said nothing. I looked at Mike for a few seconds. No, Mike. Five o’clock in the morning. This is the coffee business. The young man didn’t blink and said he’d be there waiting at the front door.

I recall it was raining the next morning and wondered if this schedule might be a little ambitious for both my young protégé and me. There was Mike at 5:00am standing outside the door. I smiled thinking he had probably been ending his days around five in the morning. Let me just say I’d have bet the farm he wouldn’t last a week and would have lost the farm. Mike was never late and never missed a day. He was very bright, like father like son. We’d go everywhere together, even out of town on business. Needless to say we got to know each other. Mike was an open book and we talked about many things. He was a fine young man who just got lost along the way. The dad let me know the change he was seeing in his son and how excited both he and his lovely wife were for all that was happening in Mike’s life. Our plans were moving forward quickly and Mike was fully engaged in every detail.

It was a dull gray morning when the call came in. Mikie’s life was taken in an automobile accident. It was nobody’s fault. During the memorial service the family’s pastor said Mike’s mother told him she spoke with her son just days before the accident. Mikie was doing really well. He had found peace. He had found the way, truth, and life…so please don’t worry about him anymore. He’d always be okay now…love you, Mom.

Take a closer look. Time here may not be what you think.