Donny Osmond Smile
I’ve started frequenting a new local Starbucks. Not that this particular Starbucks is actually new, but it’s new to me. When I work so much on my computer, I find that I need to mix up the scenery. The same coffee house or the same cafe, well, they tend to get a little dry. New sights and new sounds help to freshen up my mood and my attitude.
It’s also a great place to meet new neighbors.
This past Tuesday I drove over to Starbucks to meet my friend Owen, who I’m developing another outreach project with. I arrived a bit early, so I took a couple minutes on my laptop to respond to some emails, check the news, and update this site. Nothing too unusual. About ten minutes later, Owen finally arrived (though I told him specifically not to be late!), and we got to catching up.
We had just started talking, when we were quickly, but cordially interrupted by a fellow Starbucks patron.
“Can I just stop y’all for a second? I just want to say that you have a beautiful smile,” I heard.
I looked up, and I met Diane.
“No, really, it’s just beautiful,” she said to me. And our conversation began.
Diane (be sure to watch her Hope Interview if you haven’t), Owen, and I probably talked for at least a half hour, maybe 45 minutes. About everything really. She told us at story about the first person she’d ever loved—a man who stayed by her bed after a horrible accident she’d had. A man who loved her so much he wrote her a beautiful song. A man she loves to this day.
She told us about how she’s moved all over this country, only to discover that Southern California is the only place that feels like home.
She shared her hidden talent—mad drum skills that apparently she’s passed down to her son.
Diane seemed to know everyone at Starbucks. From the manager to the baristas, and nearly every patron who walked through the door, she greeted them with a smile and they followed suit. Smiles all around. She told us she’s there pretty much every night.
She’s become a regular in her own little coffeehouse community.
As time passed, Owen and I had to actually get to work, so our long conversation with Diane had to end. We stumbled through a quick goodbye, and she invited us back to Starbucks anytime.
“Anytime you want, boys. I’m in here every night. Just over here playin’ my Yahtzee game.”
If I could ever model an ideal example of a community listener—someone who’s tapped in to her neighbors—it would be Diane. She knew everything that was going on in all of her friends’ lives. And she had only the best to say about each and every person.
Incredible.
So, Diane walked back to her seat. Of course not before she told me that I have a Donny Osmond smile. Hopefully, I’ll get to see her next week.
by Sam Lundquist
Founder and Community Listener
Tags: pasadena, starbucks, The Blog
2 comments
This story makes me smile, Debbie sounds like an awesome person, I hope she and her dad are healed of their sicknesses
That video was beautiful. Another example of what people will open up and share if we are willing to listen. That probably made her day. We all have our stories of how we got to where we are. Thank you for sharing hers.