I’m still trying to formulate the words for what I’ve experienced over the last week in Mesa, Arizona.
Despite the long and tiring days, my experience was filled to the brim with educational moments, motivational sentiments, and an incredible amount of information. Hearing the story of how Jonathan and Amanda came to own Proof Bread was nothing short of life changing in a way that few people understand. To have someones story impact me in such a profound way was a completely new and foreign sensation- one that I can only hope to pass along to someone else one day.
I came into this endeavor hoping to further my knowledge on sourdough and learn as much as possible about the Proof establishment. What I didn’t know was that this experience would serve as a refueling for a starving passion. This is all thanks to Jonathan’s willingness to be vulnerable with two people who were practically strangers to him.
Buying sourdough bread at the market each week was, what seemed to be, the only constant in his life. There were ups, there were downs, but he always knew that despite the hurdles life threw at him, he could show up to the market and purchase his piece of comfort. One weekend he showed up and the former Proof owner was the bearer of the bad news that they wouldn’t be there the next week, or the next, or ever again. Proof had such a profound impact on Jonathan that he felt inclined to purchase Proof, so that is exactly what he did.
This is but a small slice of Jonathan’s influential story but it is this piece that I put in my pocket and carried with me through the remainder of our week. Some people may look at a loaf of bread as just a loaf of bread, but you never know just how important that loaf of bread may be to someone. In the same way that loaf of bread was to Jonathan.
Hearing this story has given far more meaning to what I do. I’m not just making breads and pastries because it makes me happy, it goes much further than that. Who knows, that bread might just turn into something beautiful.
