I am sitting in my semi dark bedroom. It's almost noon, the daylight peeking in through the slits in the curtains and the light from my laptop slowly peeling away the sleep from my eyes. It's 2009. I can hardly believe it.
If I were to say that I did not see where 2008 went that would not be a hard stretch. 2008 was a huge year for me. In all reality, 2007 and 2008 were two years that were kind of are melded together for me, a huge whirlwind of time absorbed by my life unfolding before my eyes. The birth of Maximilien, becoming a mother, turning 30, giving all that I have to give to my child and then the career change. I became a tea house owner in Paris. I became my own boss. Nine months into it, I can't believe that I have come this far.
I have been asked how I did it all? What made it all happen? My first response is my mother.
Her passing was a wake up call for me. It showed my how precious my life is and that I need to make the most of my time here among the living. I remember my Omma always telling me that I needed to go after my dreams. As a child and young adult, you say, "yes" and nod your head and go back to whatever you were doing. Today, I can still hear her voice telling me to "go for it!" and I respond back to her, I will. And I do.
How do I keep the motivation? I have my loving husband and my dear, dear son to keep me going. On days when I feel less than motivated to get up early, I think about how I want to motivate my son and show him a good example and naturally, I am up and already half way to the shower starting my day off.
Also, my customers are a huge motivation for me. I really enjoy seeing them everyday. I have weekly regulars that come, like my regular Tuesday brunch-er who orders the same smoked tea and feuillété de saumon always sending me a message the morning of to say hello and to ask me to reserve a table for one. We always talk about the new movies coming out or the news of the day. And we always have a nice laugh over what Le Parisien say our horoscope is for the day.
And then there is the doctor who comes in to get her eggs for the week because she doesn't have time to cook for herself. She always orders a végétarien avec citron and a green tea. We don't speak that much but she always gives me les bises everytime she visits and it shows me that we are friends.
Or the young mother who comes in almost every week to treat herself a nice lunch out with her newborn daughter. We exchange our experiences on what it's like to be a new mom and she shares new milestones that her daughter has acheived. I see how proud she is and I feel the same inside because I know... I was there once. And this week, she came in without her daughter and I saw a bit of sadness in her eyes. She told me that her daughter got a place in the créche by her apt and how wonderful it was for her to have her days to herself. But she did not know what to do with herself so she thought she'd come to my tea house for lunch for something familiar. Again, I knew where she was coming from and was happy to be there for her. And like every other time she has come to visit, she sat down at the same table because she knows the stroller is out of the way there even though that day she was there sans poussette. She always orders a different item from the menu each time but always a cookie et café allongée after each meal.
I've only been open for nine months and I have many more stories like this. I can't tell you how this fills my heart with so much love and gratitude. And for the first time in my life I can say outloud that I ABSOLUTELY love what I am doing with my life.
Today is the first day of 2009. In years past, I always make myself a list of things that I want to accomplish. I started thinking about this last night and stopped myself... instead I am just going to do what comes naturally. Life. Living it in the full and in the now. Whatever else comes along with it, that will be for me to see when it happens Hopefully, happy surprises.
I also want to take a moment to write a little message to the young lady who stopped by the tea house yesterday at closing and who left a lovely pink and red boquet of flowers for me with my husband. I am so utterly touched. Thank you for this lovely gesture. I wish I could have been there to recieve them myself. I hope that our paths will cross again someday soon.
I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2009 from my family to yours. May be a year full of hope, love and happiness.
