06/10/2026
If I could re-write your story, it would have ended differently.
No, it would not have ended at all…
It would have continued.
And in my perfect world, you would have walked through the doors of Recovery Cafe.
Maybe on an ordinary day, or maybe the day of your breaking point.
Maybe you’d be a little nervous, maybe wondering if you would belong there.
But, you would be greeted by name. Tyler…
Someone would offer you a cup of coffee, while someone else would save you a seat.
You would discover what so many have found there…
Love
Support
Understanding
Community
You would find that healing doesn’t happen because someone has it all together, it happens because people choose to stay.
And they choose to walk alongside one another…
I would watch you find your people.
I would watch you laugh with KP.
I would watch you bond with Glen as a grandfather figure.
I would watch you have deep conversations with the other Tyler.
I would watch you share pieces of your story and I would see hope slowly replace hopelessness.
If I could re-write the story, I would watch you become part of this community.
The truth is…
I don’t get to write that story.
Life wrote a different one instead.
My heart still aches for the chapters you will never get to live.
But every day at Cafe I see someone else’s son walk through those doors.
Someone else’s daughter.
Someone else’s brother, sister, mother, father, or friend.
And I am reminded that while I couldn’t change your story, I can help someone else’s story to continue.
That’s what Recovery Cafe is all about…
It’s a place where people are welcomed to start again
A place where Stephanie, Brandon, Ricky, Sam, Monie, Doug, Steph and I stand in the gaps and walk alongside of others.
A place where you can create a new beginning through peer support, provided resources, community, and the belief that you are worthy of it all.
And every time someone finds these gifts in their recovery, I see a glimpse of the story I wish you could have had.
There will never be a day that I don’t miss you.
There will never be a day that I don’t wish that this was your story.
But…
It is your story that led me here and I am forever grateful for that.
Always for you 💜🌿
Love,
Mom (Angie)