Farewell to the Rockford Cafe

The day I never thought would actually has come. In a few days, I will be off to Idaho for college. In fact, by the time you read this, I will have attended at least my first college class. It’s honestly the strangest thing. Yesterday was another day I never thought would come: after three years, and four summers, my last day working at the Rockford Café.

            Three years ago, the summer of 2010, a few weeks before my sophomore year in high school, I had been eating dinner at the café with my good friend, Bret. Bret’s sister, Lexi, had been waitressing while she was home for summer, but had to go back to college soon. She jokingly suggested Mary should hire me, and what do you know, a few days later I walked in for my first day of washing dishes. The rest is history! I fell in love with every single one of my “café ladies” and their husbands. They’re not just “people I work with.” They’re my aunts, my uncles, my best friends. They’re my family.

            Walking in that August day as a fifteen-year-old, I didn’t expect any of this. It was my first job, and I thought that was all it would be. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The ladies who cook and serve you breakfast, lunch, and dinner—I mean breakfast, dinner, and supper…right?—are some of the sweetest, most caring, giving, genuine, loving, selfless people I know and will ever know. They taught me how to work hard, bite my tongue, be kind to everyone, serve others, and loosen up—not to mention how to brew coffee, peel potatoes, and “give the floor a good scrubbing.” Since day one, they have looked out for me in and out of the restaurant. They sewed my prom dresses and coats and put on my graduation open house. They had long talks with me about boys, traveling, and my dreams for the future. They put up with me for 6-10 hour shifts. But, let’s be honest. Most importantly and impressively, they learned how to decipher my handwriting.

            So I guess you could say my last day was a little difficult. My sweet regulars remembered it was my last day and wished me luck and safe travels, but besides that, it was like any other workday. Except for when I looked at the phone, and I remembered the first night I got a prank call from Kenny Ames for a sixty-something-piece chicken basket to be left by the back door two hours after closing time…and the time Leonard Kaul called for a “Schwaberry Milkshake” from the booth across the room. Every time I looked at the sweets table, I remembered the first time I came in for a caramel roll and chocolate milk when I was ten years old. And every time I picked up the dishes tub, I remembered the time I dropped it, full of dishes. What? Ok, moving on…

As I logged in my time card for the last time, I said goodbye to the greatest pair of sisters I know: Lucy and Mary. Mary shook her head, and with a wink, told me, “You’ll be back.” I walked out the back door and looked over my shoulder for the last time. I was surprised and at the same time unsurprised to realize I was crying. I’m going to miss that sweet, small-town, home-cooking café, where I waited on my first table, ate my first BLT, and became part of the Rockford Café family. Thank you to everybody who made me feel like a member of their family at the café, whether I got the honor of working with you or simply taking your order. By the way, Mary, I expect this column to be framed on the wall the next time I’m home! Also, I could have written about my experience at the Taylor Swift concert this week, so you REALLY know I love you all. See you next year.

Always, Anna

Choices with Attitude, Life, and Shameless Daytime Napping

            This morning, we all woke up with a choice. I decided, as I do every day, from the minute I woke up—or within the first five minutes, after I was thinking clearly and processing actual thoughts—that today was going to be a good day. Possibly even great. Nothing has been out of the ordinary or unexpectedly magnificent, but it definitely hasn’t been a bad day. This doesn’t mean a few unfortunate events haven’t happened, but I had decided from the start that this would and could not be a bad day, no matter what happened. We all have that choice every single day; it’s honestly all up to us.

Here’s the secret to having a good day every single day: attitude. As you have probably heard before, attitude really is everything. Our attitudes dictate our choices and how we react to the consequences of them. We decide how our days—and even lives—go with the choices we make and the attitudes we have.

            I know this might sound like nonsense, but I promise if you consciously tell yourself every morning that your day will be a good day, it will be. Even if “bad” things happen to you, you’ll have a great attitude and be able to handle them. Attitude can help you realize it’s still a good day for so many more reasons than it could possibly a bad day. All too often, I see people who have something, admittedly less than desirable, happen to them, and choose to let it ruin their whole day. How sad is that?! Choose to fix it, or laugh, or if you can’t do either of those, let it go! Don’t let it spoil a whole 24 hours! Smile constantly—not in the creepy way, but in the positive, happy, friendly way. It will catch on to those around you and you’ll all enjoy an overall happier environment as a result. I promise, this really works—I’m telling you from experience.

            Recently, I had a long talk with one of my uncles about life—yeah, one of those three hour, philosophical conversations in which you cover just about everything the world has to discuss. During this talk, we reached the conclusion that while attitude is everything, life is also all about CHOICES. Each and every one of us is where we are today because of choices we, or, in some cases, others made. It may be difficult to see directly, but think back. Warning: this may require you to take some responsibility.

For example: this afternoon, I was five minutes late for work. (I know I promised I wasn’t going to be late for anything any longer, I’m sorry! I hope you’re not super disappointed in me!) I had an excuse, kind of, but even with that, I was in this situation because of choices I made. I made the choice to go to bed really late last night because I had made the choice to procrastinate packing for college. Then I made the choice to get up really early this morning to go for a sunrise jog. After that, I made the choice to take a nap, for which I made the choice not to set an alarm, turning it from a twenty-minute-nap to a two-and-a-half-hour nap. Because of all these choices, I was late! I actually, ultimately, made the choice to be late. I’m not proud of it, but I’m taking responsibility for being irresponsible. Oh, dear, is this making any sense?

            The bottom line is, we’ve got to stop making excuses and accepting defeat. Each day is a gift, not a burden, and how great of a gift is up to us. Our happiness is dependent not on what happens to us, but how we choose to look at life and react to obstacles. If you’re unhappy with your life right now, make the choice to have a new attitude and appreciation for life. Figure out what choices you need to make to get where you want to be, and then make them! You are the only person with any sort of control over your attitude, the choices you make, and therefore, your happiness.

            Always, Anna