2/1- What that means to me.

1. My Grammie’s birthday.
2. CFI’s Birthday.

14 months after losing my Grammie, on her birthday, we opened doors at CFI.

We had no members- not even one. We signed one person on that day. One.

Today, we celebrated CFI’s sixth birthday. Days go by so fast that it’s sometimes hard to really SEE. We held a small event today for our members in appreciation of them. It’s not until now- at 8pm- that I am taking the time to realize that 1. we’ve been in business for 6 years (WOW, how fucking awesome is that!?), and 2. remembering and reflecting on the memories of Gram.

Gram taught me so much about life, and how to navigate it. I didn’t know it then. Things come up in my every day life that I can now look back and recognize that she taught me how to deal with them. I am forever grateful for her lessons. Whether it be household stuff, caring for others, or mischief making..She made sure I knew how to do it.

I see so much of myself in her…and in Jax. I swear sometimes she’s putting him up to no good… which leads me to a side note… Some time ago Jax started talking about this “Kaka Mama” person, which now I chalk up to be an “imaginary friend”.. he will start talking about this person and what he’s doing with her.. and EVERY time he “hangs out with Kaka Mama” he gets in trouble. His famous line is “Kaka Mama told me to” or “Kaka Mama and I are.”..XYZ.. Jared and I always know to pay attention to what he’s doing when he informs us that he’s about to do something with “Kaka Mama”. If you believe in that kind of thing.. I assume it’s Gram. Wouldn’t surprise me at all. She was such a mischief maker. I will always carry that forward and teach my kids the beauty of harmless mischief.

I wonder what it would be like to talk to her now. What would our relationship look like now. I am totally different than I was 7 years ago, and certainly view life and relationships differently. I would be curious to learn more about her experiences in life from a deeper level, and tell her of my own.

I take my hat off to all entrepreneurs, it is NOT for the faint of heart and some days I even question myself if I’m strong enough for it. If I didn’t have her strength, I wouldn’t have made it as a business owner for this long. And I wouldn’t have the determination to keep going.

I’m happy this day shares both Gram’s birthday and CFI’s.

(For multiple reasons)..Without Gram CFI wouldn’t exist as it is today, and I probably would have quit years ago.

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