Meet Cecil Hathaway.

He's a father, engineer, professor, and good neighbor.

Possibly most importantly, he is a mocha-loving grandfather.

He happens to be my mocha-loving grandfather.

When asked if he's hungry for lunch, he often replies, “well, I've had my mocha” and this has been reality for more than five years. That’s how long my grandpa and grandma have been frequent fliers at the local coffee stands in my hometown, Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. For the first two years, they looked for the good deals; the double punch Tuesdays, granita Wednesdays, or 2$ Mocha Mondays. He especially liked those Mondays.

It took almost two years of searching before they found the perfect “latte stand” as Cecil calls them. That stand was Silverhorn Coffee on Government Way.

When asked why he settled there, my grandpa replied, “well they have a combination of a very good mocha and a very good price. But then I got to know the people.” He went on to tell me a few reasons why Silverhorn stood out as a company worth frequenting. Among many that I'll tell later on, a huge reason was the way one barista listened to and befriended him.

That girl is Christin. She’s a kind friend, employee, and one good mocha-making barista.

She happens to be my grandfather’s mocha-making barista.

She’s been working at Silverhorn coffee for a year and half, and says she remembers Cecil from her very first day at work. "He's one of those people that right when you meet him it just brightens up your day" Christin told me. They quickly they hit it off and became friends.

I asked my grandpa what drew him to Christin, and he happily replied, “Christin adopted me! One day a few months ago, she spotted my cell phone in my pocket and said ‘do you text?’ And I said ‘well yes, but I don't have your number!’ So she wrote it on a card and I texted her and we became friends. Usually when I get out of the fat club (the gym) I text her and ask her if she's there. When you drive in she's got a big smile and she makes you feel welcome. What more can you ask?”

You can’t ask for much more than that, is the correct answer. Christin and my grandpa began building a friendship over the months. My grandpa texts her to see when she is working, and plans his mocha trip accordingly. She is always sure to greet him with a smile, a few jokes, and a unique way of brightening his day.

I asked Christin what her favorite memory of Cecil is, and she replied "The day he asked if he could be my adopted grandpa, hands down the favorite memory." When I asked Cecil what his favorite memory is with Christin, he knew right away what memory that was: “One time, she said, ‘will you be my grandpa?’ And I said ‘sure I'll be your grandpa.’ So next time I went by the latte stand I said, ‘if I'm going to be adopted as your grandpa, then I need some official paper.’”

Last week, Cecil was handed a certificate. It wasn’t the adoption kind, but the Customer of the Year kind.

Cecil says he doesn't know who was behind the nomination, but suspects that Christin may have had something to do with it. He does say, however, that he doesn't need any free coffee, because for the service he receives, the least he can do is pay. In fact, over the years, Cecil has never once exchanged his punch card for a free drink. He gets 10 punches, and returns the card to the barista. "At first they said, you can't do that! You have a free drink! But then they started taking it back and letting me pay." It's clear why Cecil got Customer of the Year, in my eyes.

After digging for more stories, I learned of many other acts of kindness that Silverhorn coffee has displayed towards my grandparents, consistently going above and beyond and proving over and over why they should be Latte Stand of the Year alongside their Customer of the Year. For example, over a year ago, my grandmother became very ill.

She was losing weight quickly, and in an attempt to help her gain weight, the baristas at Silverhorn suggested switching to half and half instead of whole milk. When she continued to lose weight, my grandfather began purchasing whipping cream at Costco by the half gallon, leaving it stored in Silverhorn’s refrigerator. When they’d come to the drive through, the baristas knew just what to do: a mocha, extra hot, extra chocolate, for the Professor, and a Hazelnut latte made with whipping cream for his bride.

When my grandmother passed away a few months ago, Christin did something that I can’t thank her enough for: she provided a place that my grandpa could go and feel welcome, heard, and of course, pleased with his extra sweet mochas.

Just the other day, Cecil went through the line and found that Christin had brought him a plate of Christmas cookies. It's these small, sweet moments that make a huge impact on a special man. One special thing about my grandpa is that he loves poetry. From a young age, he instilled in me the passion for telling stories through words. He has memorized so many poems and one of his favorite things to do is to recite them for a listening audience. Christin listened to him recite a stanza by Foss. One line says,

"Let me live in a house by the side of the road,

And be a friend to man.”

After reciting that stanza to me, Cecil’s eyes were gleaming and he said, “and I thought, here are these girls in a little house on the side of the road, being a friend to man.”

Thank you Christin and all the other Silverhorn baristas, for being a friend to this mocha loving man, one who lightens up the room with his humor, kindness, and perseverance through life.

If you need to find Cecil, he'll probably be at Elmers, the fat club, or SilverHorn coffee, because when “the product is good and the people make you feel welcome, you want to go back. It's like going home for coffee.”

Keep this story in mind as you go about your day, and always remember that you never know what someone is going through, or how your actions will impact them. It's your choice whether that action is positive or negative.

I believe in karma, and that good things come to those who do good. So, do something kind in the name of my mocha loving grandpa today, and life will bring things sweet as chocolate.

Merry Christmas!

xoxo