I took Maxine to Misha’s new coffee shop location in Old Town, Alexandria today. Their original shop is more spacious and art-filled, and is often blooming with the rich aroma of roasting coffee beans, but this new shop (too small for a roaster) on Prince Street has a pretty unbeatable location.
We found a parking space several blocks up from the popular waterfront area and strolled down the leafy blocks and past the classy townhomes with colorful window boxes. As we turned onto Prince Street, Misha’s familiar orange sign beckoned from down the block. The inside is pretty small, but they also have a second floor open to coffee patrons until it serves as a bar in the evening.
After we got our lattes and strawberry rhubarb pie, we headed upstairs to find a modest wooden bar and a several tables opening up on a patio to the left. We settled into a small round table with a clear view of the Potomac. A jazz band played in Waterfront Park only two blocks away, and water taxies passed each other on the river.
About halfway through our drinks, Maxine began sharing everything that’s been going on with her. I was already familiar with some of the challenges she’s faced over the past year and half, some brought on or exacerbated by the pandemic, and others that come with being a teenager or just who you are. She didn’t hold back, and I kept reminding myself to just listen. She wasn’t asking me to offer solutions or my perspective; she just wanted me to hear her and understand what she’s been going through.
As I watch her and her brother grow into young adults and become increasingly independent, I often wonder what is truly going on behind those eyes – really the only part of them that looks the same as when they toddled around on chubby little legs. I am incredibly thankful that I’m privy to at least some of it. Thank you, Misha’s, for greasing the wheels.
My Corner of the Village 