The long and winding road ...

Three years ago about now I came inside from clearing the snow from the latest snow storm to hit our area ... I had my shower, sat down on the couch and began to enjoy a beer when the phone rang ...

The call is forever etched in my mind ... Scott's buddy Ed was wondering if Scott was up in Flesherton with me ... he wasn't ... no one had seen or heard from Scott since the Monday (three days earlier) ... I had been calling and not getting an answer at the house, but thought nothing of it ... but Ed's call filled me with dread ... I left for Stratford almost immediately and spent much of the drive calling ... all the while preparing for the worst while hoping for the best ...

I will never forget opening the door and knowing that the worst I had imagine wasn't even in the ball park of what was about to unfold ...

I will never forget the sights, and sounds and smells that were part of that evening ... in 21 days, I had lost mom. mr Baumbach and then Scott ... my world tumbled and it took months to have it return to some semblance of normal ...

Today three years later I look back on a journey that had successive losses, many struggles and fabulous moments of celebration and triumph ... I'm not sure where the journey is going from here. I have had many challenges and struggles even as I've celebrated the opening of the coffee shop, and some days I wonder if it is all worth it ... but then, I look around and consider ALL that I've been through and realize that Highland Grounds truly is a phoenix rising moment in my world ...

I have been told that mom wanted to open something like Highland Grounds, and when I look up and see Dad's picture on the wall, and the sign from the memorial bridge dedicated in his honour, I know that even though Mom didn't live to see this - she and Dad and Scott are very much part of the story of Highland Grounds, and that the breath taking tragedies I experienced three short years ago are very much part of the story being crafted and created one cup at a time today ...

Highland Grounds isn't MY coffee shop - it is my family's coffee shop.

The road I have been journeying on has been challenging, exhausting and heart-rending ... but today, looking back on the long and winding road I've trod I can see that things do eventually begin to turn around and the losses and struggles give way to something more - something better ...

There's still a lot of road to be trod ... but today I have the right people with me to make see this journey through ...

As I say often - Dayenu!! Dayenu!! (God willing, it would have been enough ... but there is so much more to come!!)