Building community through coffee!

Joseph Cowette or “Joe”, was just as his name suggests. He was an average man in job, stature, and financial means, an everyday kind of Joe. What was uncommon about him though, was his ability to love his “neighbor” so abundantly. 

Joe’s internal reflex was to help out others, whether known or unknown. Never telling a soul, and with no expectations of a return. In fact, his random acts of kindness whether it was, dropping off food to a neighbor’s home, bushhogging their field, calling them on the phone to encourage them, or giving a car to a single mother in need. He dressed and walked humbly. But was a prince, among men.

It did not matter who you were. His empathy extended to all. He saw commonality, not differences.

Whenever asked how he was doing, he would reply “blessed by the Best”. So much so, that one business even changed their answering machine to that message after he passed to honor him. He would always say, “I am a winner if I stay, I am a winner if I go”. Knowing that his family here on earth was a blessing, and his spiritual home would be as well.

He was incredibly cheerful, humble, and never let his multitude of ailments ever derail his greater sense of gratitude. His only aspirations were to be an “ambassador of love” and not a CEO in a large office.

So, I dedicate this coffee shop to the man who taught me how to take my love for others, to the next level. This man taught me and those he blessed, about what it means to “love like Jesus”. 

However, we can ALL make a difference in our communities and beyond. There are no barriers to being to “being the change” we wish to see. Only, our own choice of capacity. Go, be a Joe!