07/28/2023
Dearest Grind Family,
A Success Story
It was early 2014 when a planet friendly, community loving, judgment-free social experiment disguised itself as a cafe and planted itself to bloom in a tired little downtown. The downtown needed a few more hands to hold on to it, more love and kindness to spread around it, more people to believe in it, and in each other.
For the better part of ten years, the cafe community made lots of things together. They really did bloom into a colorful and vibrant downtown. They made neighbors who bought breakfast for strangers and coffee for newcomers. They made time for conversation and time to listen. They read books, played music and games, and they danced and donated and dressed up and marched in parades. They volunteered together, laughed a lot together, cried a lot together. They made families, and friends, husbands, wives and partners, and they even made babies. They won lots of awards, and they did because the community believed in each other. They hosted world leaders, state officials, and presidential hopefuls.
This community showed everyone that kindness wins, to be imperfectly human is universal, and that resilience and grace are not only possible but necessary. Together, they held on to each other tightly and survived a really, really difficult few years. They all changed just a little.
Most importantly, they supported and trusted a strong and continuous collection of young, badass, mostly female little leaders, they reminded them they can do anything they set their mind to, and so they did. And it was awesome. And they also, along the way, made coffees.
It's clearly our story. We did all of it. We planted here, and we grew and grew and it was so colorful, and so beautiful, and we became a breathtaking human community garden that I am so proud of, and I hope you are too.
I am proud. I am grateful beyond measure. I am also extraordinarily tired. Our season has been coming to an end, and this is going to be the last weekend for the cafe.
Although I might be tired, I'm not defeated, and I ask you to join us in celebrating our success as a small business, your success as a community, and the overall success of a really great downtown. My head is high and my heart is full, and I trust that yours will be, too.
We don’t yet know what is next for the space, but we will keep you posted when we do. You’ll see us there for a few weeks, popping in and out, sorting our things and (hopefully!) welcoming someone else in. Our hope is to pass the torch of this special space to another welcoming spot, where we can all continue to gather and bloom in this community we created.
As you can imagine, this is a really emotional thing to post, and an even more emotional weekend to experience. Disappointing people who feel at home at The Grind isn't my intention, and I ask for your grace in your responses. This has been a very personal, well thought out, gut wrenching chapter to close, and I'm probably going to need some time to process it all once this is sent to the public. Please be patient if I'm away from social media. The overwhelming gratitude I feel to everyone is too much, as are the tears that come with it.
Only love always,
Melanie, Glenn, our whole family, and the crew
