COLERAIN TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Ron Mosby smiles a lot. And he’s almost always laughing.
When I put a microphone on him outside Just Love Coffee Cafe, the coffee shop he runs with his wife, she tells him not to breathe too heavily. He smiles. And he laughs.
And when I ask him why he opened the shop, he smiles. And he laughs.
“That’s kind of a long story,” Mosby said.
See why this isn't your ordinary coffee shop in the video below:
Mosby starts by walking to the counter where someone is ordering. Then, the Navy veteran tells me about the death of his 3-year-old granddaughter, Chloe.
“She didn’t get to experience a lot of life, but she brings life to this. She brings meaning to our store,” Mosby said. “That's the reason that we are here.”
He smiles. And he laughs. Because as he's telling me this, he spins a large rotating tray. On the tray is a picture of a cup of coffee. And inside that cup, foam takes the shape of a little girl's silhouette.
“That’s Chloe,” Mosby said, pointing it out. “There’s her eyelashes. This was her hair.”
It's why some of the proceeds from orders at this store go toward cancer research organizations, as well as other causes — like veteran outreach.
“Every time someone picks up a drink, they get to see her,” Mosby said.
A child whom Mosby’s wife, Cindy, remembers living her final days with smiles and laughter. Just the way this couple tries to live now. Again, it's part of the reason they're here. Because Cindy Mosby says her husband has wanted to open a coffee shop for years.
“I call him the coffee connoisseur,” Cindy said. “This is his dream come true.”
In the Navy, Ron Mosby was a supply corps officer.
“I made sure all the crew ate three squares a day — and they got paid when they needed to," Ron said. “The Navy was actually a critical part of this, because I learned food service.”
He also learned how to deal with tough times. A mentality he still uses today.
“We’ll get through it together,” Ron said, sitting next to his wife. "We may pull our hair out for a while, but that’s what makes it worthwhile."
Just Love Coffee Cafe
The Mosby's coffee shop is open most days from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. The address is 9894 Colerain Ave — Cincinnati, OH 45251. For more information, visit its website.
And if you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email homefront@wcpo.com. You can also find more Homefront stories here.
