Coffee Story I bought the same cup of coffee everyday from the corner shop in downtown LA. Large cup, light cream, no sugar. They looked up as I walked in, started grinding the beans. I grabbed a cup before my 1-way flight to Texas. My last week of fellowship; didn’t say Bye.

I drank every drop in the cab to the airport. I should have said “Bye.”Moved to Texas, started my job. Fast forward. The Pandemic happened.

I came across a picture of me drinking my last cup while unboxing some bagels and masks sent from my sister. I was really missing home.

I wrote a letter to this coffee shop with this picture: “Hi, you probably don’t remember me but you kept me going everyday during trauma fellowship. Sometimes that light cream was my breakfast and lunch. I just wanted to say thank you for what you do.”

Omg the coffee shop got back to me. And wow, I didn’t anticipate the responses!🥹 I love all of your beautiful stories (I think a lot of us needed the boost) & learned to thank early. Hope you all keep supporting each other, one cup or moment at a time.💙

@CPark_MD You're welcome back anytime 🧡

@PhilzCoffee Omg Philz please tell your staff at Hope and 8th they are amazing humans. They don’t just make great coffee, they took care of me with kindness so I could take care of others. -💙💙🙏🏻

@CPark_MD That’s so awesome!

@TsengJennifer Thank you! I thought they were pretty awesome too. Just took me a bit to do something about it!

@CPark_MD Who’s cutting onions in here!?!?

@CPark_MD Thank you for that great story! Hope all is going well with you. Times are still tough for clinicians!

@CPark_MD We have a Philz in Sacramento - love them!

@CPark_MD There are many good humans out there, in here, and everywhere.

@CPark_MD Stumbled on this post, Timing is serendipitous as my coffee pot went out Monday morning (sounds like a bad joke) and I’ve gone back to my corner coffee shop every morning this week. Today the owner said “we are glad you are back” as he brought me my unspoken order. 🥰

@CPark_MD Helps that @PhilzCoffee is best coffee I’ve ever had!

@CPark_MD @gradydoctor had a thread recently on 'weak ties' - those small but cumulative connections to the people around us. Feels similar.

@CPark_MD Sometimes our barista saves us. I hope my saving barista knows what he did for me, because I never said thank you either, and can’t find him now to tell him. If you’re out there Donnie, you are the reason I got through my divorce intact. Thank you.

@CPark_MD Wow. They remembered. And Philz really does make one cup at a time. Thanks for the terrific story.

@CPark_MD When I moved I said goodbye to my dry cleaner. She remembered me through the year I had nothing to be dry cleaned, and in my mask, and asked about my kids when I came back. Saying goodbye to her was way more emotional than I expected

@CPark_MD i used to work at a coffee shop in college & still remember some of my regulars. i would’ve been so touched to receive a letter like this! thank you for sharing 🤍

@CPark_MD I know you are focusing on how kind THEY were, but please also celebrate how kind YOU were. You said thank you, and it matters when we do stuff like that. Thank you for being awesome and thank you for sharing this uplifting story! 🙏🏼💜

@CPark_MD I promise that receiving your note was one of the best things to happen in that coffee shop that month. Hospitality connections are real and it is very touching to be remembered

@CPark_MD It's more than that, too: you're the good human, also--from their perspective. That's why they sent you the coffee. ❤️

@CPark_MD I used to live near a Philz Coffee, and my family and I LOVE their coffee. Each one of us had a different favorite Philz coffee drink. So good! Thanks for sharing!