A place for coffee and community

Abraham Villarreal
3 min readJan 29, 2023
We all have a favorite place for coffee and community.

Friday mornings are my favorite mornings of the week. Instead of heading straight to the office, I get to hang out at a coffee shop, Blueberry Café, in the historic downtown section of my hometown. It’s a small place that feels like it belongs just right where it is.

For me, it’s more than a hang out, it’s an opportunity to visit with new friends, and see a lot of old ones too. When the owner is running late, dropping off her kids at school or doing other mom things, she knows we have her back.

Some time ago, she gave me a key to the place. I felt special until she said others had a key to the place. She’s a trusting person. You have to be that kind of person when you are running a small business while also being a mom and juggling a separate full-time job. We trust her to let us be there on Friday mornings. To turn on the lights and get the coffee pot going. She trusts us too.

I never knew how to brew up a latte until she gave me a quick and dirty lesson. She said I should know just in case the place got too busy for her and she needed a helping hand. I’m no barista, but she taught me, and once in a while she needs that helping hand.

On Fridays, there are a lot of helping hands. Sometimes they come from the local domestic violence shelter case worker. She’s a Friday regular. When she’s there, she tells of…

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Abraham Villarreal

People are interesting. I write about them and what makes them interesting.