Starbucks Son by Diane LeBleu

My son became a man today. The kind of man I aspire him to be some day. The kind of man like his father – a kind, thoughtful, generous, smart, funny, Christian man. No, it wasn’t the result of a monumental rite-of-passage designed for seven-year-old boys from Austin, Texas. He brought me a coffee from Starbucks.

I was upstairs at home playing with our two young daughters and my husband, Tom, offered to get me a coffee when he ran out to grab a sandwich so I could get a little caffeine kick before sitting down to do some writing this afternoon. Travis came up the stairs, beaming with pride of his accomplishment. I thought his father had put him up to something. He called out ‘Mom, I brought you something!’ He came around the corner with my favorite coffee drink in the whole world – a grande vanilla latte with skim milk. He handed it to me, gave me a hug, and said ‘I love you, Mom’.

That’s enough to melt any mother’s heart, no matter how messy the room is or how many pairs of jeans have come home from school with holes in them or how many times dirt from shoes kicked off has spilled over onto my freshly mopped floor. Boys love their mothers, that is a truth that cannot be denied.

My husband later told me this story about their trip out for coffee. Tom was headed down to pick up a sandwich from the deli and he said ‘Hey Travis, want to get Mom’s coffee?’ Travis said ‘Sure’. Tom said ‘Order a grande vanilla non-fat latte. Got it? Here’s five dollars’. Travis took the money and started walking away into the store. Tom called out ‘Travis, what are you going to get?’ thinking Travis didn’t quite get the order. Travis is challenged with listening sometimes. Travis called back ‘Grande vanilla nonfat latte.’ He turned to walk into the store and Tom tested him one more time ‘Travis, what are you going to get?’ Travis stopped and nonchalantly said ‘Grande vanilla nonfat latte.’ Duh, Dad, were his unspoken words.

Tom met up with Travis in Starbucks after he got his lunch to go. Travis was waiting patiently for his order. The barista called out ‘Grande vanilla nonfat latte for Travis!” Travis went to reach up – he couldn’t reach the counter! His four foot tall frame wasn’t quite tall enough to reach his man size order.

I was touched in my heart with the smile my son brought me when he delivered my afternoon indulgence. But it wasn’t the coffee that brought me joy – it was that this simple act of pleasing me made Travis so happy. He is truly special and will make a fine husband to some lucky woman some day. Just like his father.