My mom left me.
And moved 2300 miles away.
I was 3.
My father, was in the military. (More on my father, next month)
I was raised by my Grandparents in a small town of 1000 people in the middle of Indiana.
(My graduating class was 74 people)
“How could a mother, leave their child?” Is a question I got from every girl I ever dated.
I know my mom felt alone.
She moved to America with my father from South Korea.
She didn’t speak English (she self taught herself over the years), and there was only a tiny population of Koreans in Indianapolis at the time.
Her and my father divorced when I was one.
She only knew a couple of other Koreans.
Since she didn’t speak English it was hard to find a job. She had to support herself.
So she was at a crossroads…
Move to Seattle where a huge population of Koreans were, where she could thrive, find a job,
And create a life, OR stay here, in Indiana with really no future at that time.
That decision seemed obvious. BUT… what about me?
Should she take me with her and have to either take me to a baby sitter (Which she did while she lived in Indy, and apparently I kept coming back with scratches and bruises)
I’d also have to live in a tiny apartment.
OR
Leave me with my grandparents on my dad’s side in the small town of Milan, Indiana. (Yes, the town the movie Hoosiers was based on… RIP Gene Hackman)
My grandparents BEGGED and BEGGED and BEGGED her to keep me in Indiana.
She denied them over and over to the point where they kidnapped me when she wasn’t looking to keep me here in Milan while she was at the local laundromat.
They just up and snagged me and took me to their house (It was only 5 minutes away).
LOL. Hilarious in hindsight, but serious at the time.
She was very very mad at them. They argued for weeks fiercely.
She finally relented and let me stay with them.
Logically it was the best decision.
I was near all of my family in the US, I had acres upon acres to roam around and not be stuck in a tiny apartment in the middle of the city, and I would not be raised by strangers, since my grandparents were almost always home. (I can’t remember a time with both of my grandparents were gone at the same time)
Was I ever mad at her for leaving me?
Honestly? No.
Did I wish I had my mom when I was in grade school?
Occasionally.
I never blamed her for making that decision. It was just how it was. It was up to me to make the most of it.
I had an amazing childhood. We didn’t have much, but we had everything we needed.
My aunts, uncles, cousins were all really close, and grandma was the glue that held the family together.
I wouldn’t trade my upbringing for anything. I was fortunate, and I embraced it, instead of focusing on the negative.
I know that was a hard decision for her.
And life is full of hard decisions every person has to make.
If a decision is out of YOUR control?
Do the best you can , with what you got.
In other words, I played the cards I was given the best I could and left the past in the past.
Fast forward til now.
I wished my mom Happy Mother’s day a couple weeks ago.
We have a good relationship. We talked or texted every week at least once since she left 44 years ago.
I always tell her I love her.
In high school and college I’d go see her every year. As an adult, I don’t get to see her as frequently, but we still make time for each other.
Allllll this to say…
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there in whatever situation you are in.
You all are saints. The decisions, love and care you provide can definitely go unnoticed.
The lesson from this?
I could have been angry at my mom for leaving me.
And let that anger destroy the relationship completely.
Somehow, I realized early in life that holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
It’s ok to be angry.
But…
Holding onto that anger and letting it fester where you’re having conversations in your head of “what I should have said in that moment” serves no one and simply takes up mindshare.
I can’t control other people’s actions. I can only control my actions and reactions. And seek to understand the other point of view.
In a world where you are constantly bombarded by chaos and negativity, I choose to focus on the positive things and seek those out.
What’s Going On At Lifeboost?
We launched 2 new limited time flavors!!
Dubai Chocolate and Cookie Butter.
There are about 70 of each left before it’s gone.
With flavors like this, it’s supply and demand.
If you all demand enough of it, it makes it into the top 12. If not, we run limited runs.
We do this because we want to serve you the best we can while making sure to keep costs down.
Check out the new webpage layout! We’re listening to your feedback and making changes.
Let me know what you think of these flavors. We take your comments seriously and are constantly doing reformulations of flavors.
I know we’re not the cheapest coffee, and because of that we’re obsessed with bringing you the highest quality and absolute best experience we possibly can.
You are spending your hard earned money with us and we do not take that for granted.
Which brings me to my next topic… inflation.
I know we’re all getting hit by it.
I keep a close eye on the coffee market.
Here are the current conditions:
The 2026 coffee market looks healthier and more predictable than 2025. Prices are more manageable for roasters and consumers, supply chains are normalizing, and long-term demand growth supports the industry. That said, it’s not a return to cheap coffee; elevated baseline costs (from climate, labor, and sustainability) are likely the “new normal.”
While coffee itself is getting cheaper, the cost of living and shipping is still climbing as well as being sustainable. New laws and taxes are being added this year for sustainable packaging.
As a CEO, I’m the one who has to look at all this information then look at our financials and figure out pricing. I won’t lie, it’s very nerve racking lol.
As a business, we have to create enough margin to steadily grow and keep the doors open while offering you an incredible product at a fair price. That’s my perception of business anyway.
Based on all this information, we do not plan on raising prices this year barring any unforeseen circumstances.
We’re focused on how we can bring even more value to you.
Things are tight. Just know that you are top of mind in all this.
We have exciting things coming down the pipeline with our loyalty program.
If you don’t have a subscription with us, we do our best to make it worth your money. Not only because Lifeboost Coffee is incredible, but our loyalty program gives the most perks to subscription members.
If you do have a subscription with us and have to put it on the back burner because of inflation, please give us a call and let us try to come up with a solution for you. We're always willing to help!
WHY would you want another subscription?
I get that. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably lost count of what you are subscribed to and every year you check for things you aren’t using.
This is why we give extra rewards and perks to make it worth your time.
Plus, it’s easy to cancel, you can skip shipments, gift to others, or delay. (Call or email us if you are having issues)
We do our absolute best to make sure we take care of you if there is a shipment that you didn’t want or forgot to stop, or that got shipped on accident.
We’re not here to screw you over.
We’re here to provide you the best coffee service possible.
WHY do we do subscription as a business?
Simple. It provides steady cashflow for the business to operate. It also provides steady cashflow for farmers since we can better predict how much coffee we need to purchase from them, which provides them with some stress relief.
Running a business IS stressful.
BUT...
The messages we get from you on a daily basis about how Lifeboost has played a tiny role in your life makes it alllllll worth it. :-)
Alrighty my friend, hope today is amazing for you! To Your Health,
Dr Charles Livingston
CEO of
Lifeboost CoffeeP.S. I hope that your Memorial Day weekend was full of family, love, reflection and remembrance. I have a lot of family members who served in the military. I'm eternally grateful for their sacrifice. I know that our country is not perfect by any means, and there our differences are evident now, more than ever. I truly believe deep down that we all want the same things. Safety, security, love, and happiness. No matter where you stand, those who fought to provide this should always be remembered and cherished.
P.P.S. If you got a text message from us that said "Happy Memorial Day", we are so, so sorry from the bottom of our hearts. One of our team members had a brain fart and was moving too fast. They know they messed up, and it was not intentional. This is a day to celebrate those who should be remembered. But Happy Memorial Day seems wrong to say. So again, we messed up, I'll take the heat for it. You have my deepest apologies if we offended you.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions, PLEASE just respond back to this email. We take your feedback to heart plus we love hearing from you and connecting!
