(12/12) “When we reopened the doors of Ginjan Café, our regular customers started comin
(12/12) “When we reopened the doors of Ginjan Café, our regular customers started coming back. It was slow at first. We had limited hours. We cut back our menu. But gradually people got excited about the business again. We’ve grown ten percent, month-by-month, since the day we reopened. We found our first big investor, it was one of our customers. And next month we’re going to open our second café location in Brooklyn. The business is stronger than it’s ever been. There’s something bittersweet about it. We wish we’d gotten here sooner. So that our sister was here to see it, and our father. But we got here. We had every reason to give up. We had every reason to go down the wrong path, and it would have been justified. But we never did. Because we had a firm foundation. It came from so long ago, when we were kids back in Guinea. But we had it. We had a loving family. And we held onto that, through everything. Sometimes on weekends we have a new helper around the store. In 2019 my daughter Kenza was born, and she’s almost three now. She’s given me a new reason for living. There are times when we’ll be doing the simplest things; we’ll be taking a walk, and she’ll be waving at strangers. Or she’ll be bombarding me with questions. And I’ll realize I have the biggest smile on my face. I’m not just going through the motions. Last week we were at the playground. It was just a normal trip to the playground. There was nothing special about it. But as we’re leaving, Kenza grabbed onto my hand. She said: ‘Daddy I’m so happy.’ It’s the first time I’d ever heard her express it. And it made me realize: I’m happy too. I’m not fighting to get back to who I used to be. I’m happy, right now. You should see Kenza with her Uncle Rahim. She calls him on WhatsApp, just to talk gibberish. And he loves it. He gets so excited. He does spoil her a little too much. For her birthday he got her the biggest bike you’ve ever seen. She can’t even reach the pedals. And there’s no rules with him. He’ll let her ride on his back for hours. He’ll let her watch any show. He’ll feed her whenever she asks. He can never say ‘no’ to her. She’s his princess. And whatever she wants, she gets.“ -- source link