Lindsey and I recently spent a day in Savannah, GA. We had a great time experiencing an amazing bed and breakfast, riding around listening to historic tour guides and eating a steaming hot chicken pot pie from Paula Dean’s restaurant (to name a few events).
Along the way we encountered something really special, though. After a trolly tour and walking outside, we got a little cold and needed a warm up. Searching for a coffee shop, we accidentally stumbled upon a little place called Bitty & Beau’s Coffee.
We entered and right off the bat something felt different. We couldn’t put our finger on it at the start. Our cashier seemed to be a special needs man and the more I looked around, a lot of the employees were. After a few more moments I realized besides a man making the coffee, the employees seemed to be all special needs.
While we were waiting for our order, a television caught my attention. It displayed a woman accepting an award. Then bringing the award to all of her employees with special needs. I looked around the coffee shop again. At the end of my look, my eyes rested on Lindsey’s. It’s like it hit us both at the exact same time.
I immediately googled and our thoughts were confirmed.
Turns out Bitty & Beau’s Coffee is a very special place. The owner’s have 4 children, 2 (Bitty & Beau) that have down syndrome. Instead of hiding them from the world, the owners decided to show the world their children’s capabilities.
As they say, the rest is history. I’ve linked the company’s about page and support page. So, I think you’ll get the gist. Plus, their website can explain it better than I ever could.
Being in there and discovering that this company is giving special needs people a chance at a productive life made me extremely emotional. To the point of tears, really. Probably because our middle child has autism.
I very often think about what Luca’s future holds. I pray every single day he can and will live a life of fulfillment to whatever his desires are. But the simple truth is we just don’t know yet. We are doing everything we can to help him and while he’s made great improvements in the past year. We have no way of knowing the next 10 years of progression looks like.
So, the fact that there are people out there who are trying their best to show the world people with special needs are capable of living a productive life and enabling them an opportunity really, really hit home. For Lindsey and I, both.
I wanted to share this story because more and more, I feel it’s really important to be aware of special experiences like this and support these causes. Maybe parents who don’t have children with special needs or mental limitations won’t understand or more fairly, can’t understand. Speaking as a parent who’s child is autistic, Lindsey and I know Luca is special and we believe he is brilliant in his own way.
I can’t really adequately describe how much it was a such a breath of fresh air to see the owners of Bitty & Beau’s Coffee shop put their trust and confidence in these very special individuals.
A truly inspiring and heartwarming experience.
*ddileo 