1340 N. Main St.

That's right. I'm thankful for a place tonight. Starbucks- my Starbucks. I don't think many of my friends are thankful for their jobs, in all honesty. It's something they haaaave to do to get by, and something that demands their time and sure, it's bearable, but someplace they're thankful of? Psh.

Not the case for me. Yes, I've had my ups and downs with the place. Have I seriously considered leaving? Yeah, a few times. Did those times correlate with a lack of vacation or big outside stress on my part? Guilty. When I step back and look at my near year and a half at Starbucks store 5624, it's been a place of comfort for me. At points, I've felt that my "sbux crew" has been all I've had.

There was my first summer here, before I had any friends. Adrienne hired me a week and a half after I moved, and I immediately began the intense training. I came home exhausted after each 4 hour shift and slept in my gloriously large bed. Time of day mattered not. Although I wasn't close to the team yet, they were the only people I saw with any regularity other than my parents. To them, I was the cute just-out-of-high-schooler who sang and wore ribbons in her hair. To me, they were the only base I had out here and challenged me to change what a friend could be made of. Even though I felt much younger than them, I worked to prove myself, and quickly gained their respect and evetually lost the "high-schooler" tag.

Then came Fall and school. I was working my butt off, trying to figure out how to balance all of it. As my friends back home got more involved in their schools and their new lives, I was stuck- too busy commuting to get involved, and too homesick to try. Only at my store did I have relief, where I knew what I was doing and had a singular purpose. It was wonderfully predicatble, and that predicatability kept me sane, as did my coworkers.

Throughout the rest of my year, they've seen all sides of me from bubbly and singing "True Love's Kiss" from Enchanted, to trying to hold my composure and swollen eyes for an eight hour shift the day after a heart-wrenching breakup. They know me. They know my struggles. And I know theirs. Most of the time, mine pale in comparisson. To them, I am thankful.

At my store I see strength and perserverance. I see people fighting to just get by and providing an astonishing example for me. I see a woman who curse like a sailor. In her, I see the most genuine heart and soul which really just wants to be loved again. I see a quiet, contemplative man who shoulders the store and it's needs above his sleep. In him, I see dedication to a purpose and a responsibility. I see a woman fighting emotional hell while she works and studies, as she follows her dream. In her, I see a beautiful friend who is the first to laugh off her stress. In this store, I have a home.

I know that my experience here isn't like most. The store isn't an escape for many of my coworkers, but it can be for me. They can be my escape; they have been and continue to be a tremendous support system for me. So to my coworkers, both past and present? I love you all. Thank you for putting up with me and my quirks ;)