Community (also what will probably be the longest blog post ever....sorry!)

I've been so looking forward to blogging about my trip to Boston, but after the tragedy of the past week I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it until now. 

A few of you know that last weekend I had the pleasure to go to Boston for the annual Specialty Coffee Association of America expo. Needless to say, I've been looking forward to this all year. I've had a love affair with Boston since I was in high school, but to be able to go back specifically for coffee? I can't even begin to tell you how full my heart was on our way there. To make our trip as productive as possible, my coworker and I made a couple stops on our way to Massachusetts to visit a few stores we don't get to see often (Kentucky being one of them), and you would not believe the amount of issues we had traveling. Out of 7 flights we had that week, 5 were delayed and 1 was completely rescheduled. It was slightly a nightmare, but we were so excited to make it to Boston that we took it all in stride. Alright, I may have been a little grouchy after being stuck in the Chicago airport for 7 hours-- but who wouldn't be? We finally made our final (delayed) flight from Chicago to Boston on Thursday, and I was so excited I could barely handle sitting still on the plane for 2 hours. Minutes into the flight it became apparent that we were flying with a majority of marathoners. Once we arrived at our hotel, we also realized that we were with mostly marathon runners and a few coffee people.

I am not a runner. I despise it. I hate myself 2 minutes in when I realize how out of shape I am, and then spend the next 2 days being as lazy and unhealthy as possible. It's really just better for me to be a walker. But I have immense respect for people who run; many of my friends are dedicated runners. For them it is a love of their life. It is something that helps them in more ways than physical health. It's how they release stress, process information and make decisions. It's a huge part of their lives. You couldn't speak with the marathoners in Boston without catching their contagious excitement and joy. Hearing the news on Monday about the bombings broke my heart. Domestic and foreign terrorism is always heart wrenching, and I'm certainly not saying that my heart doesn't break for the countless other shootings and bombings that have taken place. But having just come back from Boston the day before, after meeting all these wonderful people, and knowing that I still had friends in Boston, this event weighed so heavy on my heart. I cannot imagine all the lives changed on Monday, and the countless people living in Boston who had their lives disrupted this week as they lived in fear. I thank God that the people in my life made it out safely, but I still cry for those that didn't. It was a very sad and eye opening end to our otherwise wonderful weekend. 

But despite the horror of the bombs, it also reaffirmed what I was in Boston for. Coffee always has and always will be about community for me. Learning all the fun information about coffee is simply a plus. I started working in a local coffee shop the summer of my 16th birthday, and a month later my world was rocked by a personal traumatic event. The community built in that little coffee shop I worked in, with a bunch of college students that I revered and admire to this day, was healing for me that year. I believe that is what coffee culture is built for. For community, for healing, for growth. That is what this weekend was for me. We worked during the days, walking the show, talking to potential vendors about new products in the coffee world and meeting with current vendors, and we enjoyed our friends and bonded in the evenings. We grabbed drinks with our coffee friends and put our professional relationships on the back burner to catch up on our lives. We talked about work and life change, relationships and family, church and growth. After the homesickness I've been pushing off for months, it was just healing for my heart. I can't explain to you how my relationships with so many different people grew that weekend. It was such a reminder for why I am in this profession, and it came at a time when I was getting wrapped up in the work and frustrated with everything. In the midst of terror, the people of Boston came together and took care of each other. Their community is stronger than ever. People are good, God shined through the fear and I believe people are being forever changed for the better. 

(insert segue into shallow, fun details about my Boston weekend....)

Something I absolutely love about Boston is how multicultural it is every time I visit. Add to that the many, many people in town for the marathon and the coffee show, and a majority of the conversations I heard that weekend weren't even in English (or we just couldn't tell because we are so not used to awesome New England accents). I also love all the history packed into that city. We were lucky in that we got to decide out schedules and plans every day, and many of our plans included the rich history of Boston. We were able to go to a game at Fenway (Red Sox!), eat at the Union Oyster House (the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the United States) and simply walk the city. Oh, and we went to Cheers. Which was wonderful. Other than our final night in Boston, I hands down will tell you that the Red Sox game was my favorite event of the weekend. If you haven't gone to a ball game up north and watched a bunch of New England-ers get flat out drunk during a baseball game, I would daresay you have not really experienced baseball. We made many new friends that night.

My travel schedule for the next month is completely full, but none of them will be as fun, eye opening or life affirming as my Boston trip (like when I go to Wyoming on Monday...what's in Wyoming you ask? Rocks.). Thank you, God, for this job and community.