18/11/2018
Thank you to everyone who came to see us on Friday and these last few days at Café Adagio. It’s been an incredible week, with so many of you coming to see us, parting with plenty of hope and sadly with sweet sorrow at times. You touched our lives in the same way we touched yours.
Thank you for all of your beautiful words and countless kind messages, the thoughtful cards and the wonderful gifts we’ve received. Words can’t express what you mean to us and so the decision for us to leave was never easy.
A long time ago I had a vision, I wanted to change the world. I needed to do something to make the world a better place, or at least leave behind a better world for our next generation. I’d try through music and through song, but I’d wake up the next day with same news of suffering and of pain. Change had to start somewhere.
So the idea of Café Adagio was born. If I could change what’s right in front me instead of trying to change the minds of the people I didn’t know then maybe the world around us would be better. I could provide a place for people to come and feel a part of something, to feel love and to feel positivity, to call a second home. The hope was afterwards people would feel good enough about their days ahead to also spread that positivity to everyone they connected with thereafter. The “butterfly effect”.
A coffee shop was exactly the kind of place I believed I could do this. A place where people could come and enjoy a good cup of coffee, enjoy good food made with love served with warm sincerity and familiarity, whilst relaxing in the safe sanctuary and ambience of carefully curated music and beautiful art made by local artists. The idea of working with local people makes complete sense, the café is a place for the community after all.
With this in mind we grew, from strength to strength. We got to know and we became close friends, brothers and sisters with so many of you. We were even recognised for our work by journalists and magazines, we proudly say we won an award for every year we were open, four great awards and much of that was down to our staff who worked so tirelessly and passionately with us. We thank them just as much (we hope they know who they are) for without them none of what I set out to do could have ever been achieved.
I discovered though that to achieve all of this comes at a price. Time. Café Adagio was never a job for me, it was always a labour of love. But to do whatever I did meant I couldn’t do some of the things I needed to do. Café Adagio was such a rewarding yet immersive experience that it was difficult for me to spend time outside of the business. Having created a place where for as long as the doors were open I needed to be there does take its toll eventually. And I needed to change it, for the sake of my family. And whilst I have loved almost every second of doing what I did, something needed to give, before it was too late. Thankfully it isn’t and I hope you’ll all understand my reason why we had to stop. And so like the saying goes “all good things come to an end”.
But it isn’t the end as such, if you don’t want it to be. That corner at the end of Addiscombe Village is still there, that place for you all to go and feel all the things you felt when you were with us, it will reopen with new people who will do new things. They’ve taken the shop from me because they love everything we stand for. It’s my hope that you will all continue to go to keep the energy of what we all helped to create alive and strong. The love of community. It’s important we do this, otherwise everything we did was in vain. So please, give the new people a chance and whilst you’re there just spare a thought for us and the good times we shared... It’s going to be all right folks.
Finally there is one person who I’d like to thank the absolute most. Someone who has always been by my side, working with me and I’m lucky enough to say has been there throughout all the ups and the downs of life at the café. My dear lady, my dear wife.
I’d like to end by telling you an invaluable lesson I’ve learnt in my time of knowing you. It’s something you should know, believe it and tell others. Each and every one of us possesses a power. We have the power to change our own lives or at least how we think about our life and what we choose to do from now. The past is where it is, we can’t change it. But we can change the future. And we each have the power to change the lives of others. It’s a beautiful responsibility, please use it.
Until we meet again, wherever and whenever that will be.. Be safe, be happy and be healthy good people.
My eternal love to you all.
Atif
