Lovable Lincolnton

When the Downtown Development Association decided on the slogan Lovable Lincolnton, I thought it was pretty cheesy. Let's call a spade a spade. It is cheesy. But I was feeling the lovableness of Lincolnton Sunday (and thought Valentine's Day would be a good time to throw it out there).
This isn't the greatest story ever told, but I'm going to tell it.
I met up with one of my two favorite redheads for coffee. A not-so-lovable element of Lincoln living is that lots of businesses are closed on Sundays, including two different coffee shops that we attempted to visit. So, McDonald's it was.
I haven't darkened the door of a McDonald's in quite some time. And I didn't eat there so don't look at me like that. I got an ice coffee with skim milk and sugar-free flavoring, thank you very much. It was yummy. But that's not my point. I'm getting there. You know how I tell stories.
I'm in line waiting for the right time to settle into a booth and do some catching up when I hear, "Mommy!" I look and my daughter is in the restaurant with a couple of friends and a mom. We start talking about how funny it was that we ran into each other. Then I look at a neighboring table and there's my father! Neither my daughter nor my father noticed the other was there.
We did lots of laughing and greeting, then I got to sit down to visit with my gal pal. I look past her and see one of my daughter's friends going through the drive-thru. He's got a big grin and is waving at me.
A little later my daughter's boyfriend and his father jog past.
There are times I crave and relish in anonymity. There are other times I bask in the smallness of my little town and getting smiles and friendly waves every which way while merely going out for a cup of coffee.