ONCE UPON A TIME...
Episode One: The $500 Deal - by Shana Whitehead
Once upon a time, I was a young mom with two little boys, a collection of part-time jobs, and a rather persistent dream of opening a cafe.
I'd recently returned from spending an entire summer traveling across the country with the kids. My then-husband called it a "trip of a lifetime." And it surely was! But I've never been one to assume we're only entitled to ONE trip of a lifetime. 😉
So when an opportunity arose to travel through Italy with a group of wonderful friends and two incredible artists, I was ALL IN!
The artists were Jon Kuhn, a world-renowned cut-glass artist, and his friend Al Priest, a remarkable stained-glass artist whose work included developing tools for restoring historic church windows around the world. They had collaborated on a beautiful glass cross to present to Pope Benedict XVI, and a group of us had been invited to accompany them to an audience with the Pope.
Italy? Art? Friends? The POPE?
YES, PLEASE!
There was, however, the small matter of coming up with $3,000.
At the time, I was teaching preschool, raising two boys, and teaching exercise classes at the YMCA. So I did what any determined, travel-loving mother would do.
I worked.
5:30 AM cycling class? I'm your girl!
Babysit the medical students' children after school? Absolutely!
Personal training for active older adults? What time?
Cater your celebration? I'd be delighted!
And somewhere between all those jobs, raising children, and running a household, I continued indulging in my favorite pastime.
Designing menus for the restaurant I didn't own.
I even had a little chalkboard by the stove where I'd write out our family's dinner menu for the week. The boys, being the smart alecks they were, would wander into the kitchen and announce, "I'll have the meatloaf and mashed potatoes tonight, but can I substitute broccoli for the butternut squash?"
To which I'd reply, "Certainly. But that's Thursday's menu.”
Meanwhile, just around the corner from our neighborhood sat the old Bethania Mill.
Most of the historic building had been lovingly renovated into charming shops and stylish offices. But there was this one little space. A separate-but-attached old deseeding shed.
Four walls. Exposed rafters. Bird poop. Dead bugs.
And I thought it was absolutely charming!
Can't you just see a cafe in there?!
I got to know the shopkeepers and the building owner. They were wonderfully encouraging. I'd show up with homemade granola and yogurt, little sandwiches, couscous salads, and all sorts of goodies. We'd talk about business, holiday decorations, and what that dusty little shed might someday become.
But back to Italy.
All those extra jobs were paying off. Nine dollars for teaching a YMCA class before sunrise might not sound like much, but I could still be home by 6:30 AM, shower, get the boys off to school, and head to my regular job.
I was getting there!
Except the deadline to sign up for Italy was fast approaching.
And I was still $500 short.
That's when my then-husband made me an offer.
"If you'll stop talking about opening a cafe, I'll give you the $500."
I know. I KNOW.
So I did what any self-respecting, determined young mother who REALLY wanted to go to Italy would do.
I took the $500.
Made the deadline.
And then went right back out, worked my ass off, earned another $500, and deposited it into our household account.
Game on. 😉
And that, my friends, is where this story starts getting interesting.
Because that dusty little deseeding shed?
Well, let's just say I wasn't finished talking about it.
To be continued...