Coffee, Patron Saint of Lost Things

Fika Coffee, the brick and mortar version, has been up and running for a few solid months now.  We’ve seen a lot of great folks walk through our doors, some familiar and some brand new, all welcome and all bringing with them a bit of the personality that helps make Fika what it is.  Striking up conversations with our customers, getting to know them, sharing a laugh and finding out what we have in common is just one of the perks of standing at the register taking an order.  People have good stories and we’re pretty glad we get to spend our days making lattes and hearing those good stories.

And because we don’t think it’s fair to keep all the good stories to ourselves, we’d like to share one particular tale with you that we think might make you believe that coffee really is the answer to everything.

During our first couple months, we were lucky to have Katy Attleson working as a barista for us.  She’s been part of the Fika family for years, faithfully weighing and writing, in perfect penmanship, the variety and lot number on hundreds of bags of coffee.  As we transitioned to taking orders for brewed coffee and cappuccinos, Katy came with us, faithful yet again only this time to making the 76 mile round trip to our store front and back each day she worked. 

On a day no different from any other, Katy was bagging coffee when a customer named John walked in.  He ordered a cup of coffee and the two chatted briefly while Katy rang up his order.

Though John and Katy had never met, they soon realized that John did in fact know Katy’s husband, Geoff.  He’d actually met him numerous times--Geoff was on a small crew of carpenters building John’s house in Hovland.  While Katy filled John’s cup, they exchanged pleasantries, both noting that it was nice to finally put a face with a name. 

Now, you’re probably thinking ‘That’s nice but, so what?”   Which, to be honest, is probably what both Katy and John were thinking in the moment before what transpired next.

But before we get to that, here’s a little necessary back story: Earlier in the year, Katy’s husband lost his wedding ring.  Tragic and disappointing all on its own, its absence was even more disheartening because it had belonged to his father who had passed away.  Assuming he’d lost it at the building site, Geoff scoured John’s property looking for the ring.  He searched every inch of the unfinished house and, because there were feet of snow on the ground, borrowed a metal detector and searched with equal diligence, the grounds surrounding the house.  During the remainder of the winter and spring, Geoff looked in every logical and illogical place he could think of for his heirloom ring but by summer, had mostly given up all but a scrap of hope.  But a scrap of hope is still hope and Katy had been holding on to it like a precious jewel all the months of the ring’s absence. 

Katy handed John his coffee.  And then, almost without thinking and maybe even just for the sake of conversation, blurted out that Geoff had lost his wedding ring during the building process of John’s house. To her incredible surprise, John's face lit up with delight.

“So that’s whose ring I found!” John exclaimed as he excitedly pulled something from his pocket.  There, amidst a tangle of keys, was a ring.  “I found this under the bed in one of the upstairs bedrooms months ago.  I’ve been carrying it around ever since, asking everyone I see if they know who’s ring it is!”

The ring blurred in Katy’s vision as tears welled up in her eyes.  It was indeed Geoff’s ring, right there, so unpretentious mixed in with the keys to this customer’s house and car.  In an instant, the hand that had once held only a scrap of hope now held the ring.  Curling her fingers slowly around it, she choked out a tearful and heartfelt thanks to the man who, moments ago, had been only a stranger in search of a good cup of coffee.

So, there you have it, friends.  Coffee to the unsuspected rescue!  We’re pretty pumped that a cup of Fika Coffee gave Katy and John the chance to meet.  And while we know that every chance encounter that happens between the four walls of our little shop won’t be as notable as this one, we’re pretty confident that coffee is darn good at bringing people together in all sorts of crazy and worthwhile ways. 

Do you have a crazy story of how coffee brought people together at just the right time?  We’d love to hear it!