It was just another morning at Starbucks. Another morning of serving regular customers, re-stocking espresso beans & cups, and making triple grande caramel macchiatos. My co-worker, “Breezy”, was working the register while I was on bar. All of a sudden, her face changed to a welcoming smile when she saw a familiar face walk through our doors. He had a kind smile, gentle green eyes, had a green beanie on, a scarf, and a nice jacket.  He reached over the counter to give my co-worker a hug. “Hey guys! This is my brother, Sean!” she said. All of us behind the counter waved and said hello! He ordered a pumpkin spice latte and went on his merry way. But from the moment I saw him, I simply couldn’t shake a feeling. Nonetheless, I carried on with my day making lattes, mochas, frappuccinos, and the works.

A couple weeks later, one of our co-workers was getting married and we were all invited! It was a lovely ceremony & reception, and so fun to be with all of my friends from work, outside of work. Breezy, (AKA Bri’Anne), was dancing and unfortunately bonked her head pretty badly. A friend and I did not feel comfortable letting her drive herself home, and so we tagged teamed it and had her ride with us. It was around 11pm at the time we arrived at her family’s house. She welcomed us in for a bit, and I was delightfully surprised to see that her family was still up having a movie night. Her brother- yeah, the one with the kind smile and gentle green eyes, immediately stood up along with their sister Calais, to welcome us and introduce themselves. I was just one of the many baristas that Sean met the day he came to get a pumpkin spice latte, so I don’t think he remembered me, but of course… I remembered him.

What I thought was going to be a quick drop-off, turned into an evening of small talk, getting to know each other, and somehow Calais teaching us all a special dance (if you know Calais, this shouldn’t surprise you!) Not long into the evening, Sean came up to me and we began chatting. This small chat turned into an hour or so of talking about everything from China to teaching to college and of course, coffee. I was quickly beginning to think “Wow, we have so much in common!” However, that very thought had to flee when he said, “Oh YOU’RE the photographer friend that Bri’Anne has told me so much about! I have to ask- I am about to propose to my girlfriend when she comes home from school this Christmas, and I would love to have you photograph our wedding!”

To be continued….