Let’s begin at the beginning.
She was the seventh of eleven.
Smack dab between five boys and six girls.
She didn’t know that she would make a splash in the western world.

Always good at mathematics,
but never good on her “grammatic’s.”
Riding buses, boats, and failing drivers classes
to have a perfect record in this story we call love.

Her son was an overly ambitious eccentric who’s slowly finding Phi,
despite finding constant heartbreaks and failures all he does is try.
His sister is a winner, who wins on perpetual lucky happenstantial happy accidents.

She works over 100 hours a week, just to play her part. Dreaming about her passions of growing a culinary revolution from a Kingfield neighborhood wine bar. The concept was unexpected but she made it bloom and grow.

Cooking for all with a dream.
Her Mother’s cuisine saved her from long bus rides in dark cold weather; all before she met the man who she called Teacher Mike.

Then her reign began at King’s when she became queen.

Andrew is the glue who holds the big black shoe.

David is her son, a young man with a sense of duty and honor. Then there was Griffin B. who was in the same search of manhood. At 17 and 24, little did they know that they were identical different reincarnations.

John is our Saint Vincent and Quinn writes ballads the same as Paul engineers and sets the tone.

Simon slaps you in the face with four claws, and Hakim is the safest sax that’s blown the baritone.

Griffin T. screams Oasis and Ogden jump’s over some dirt mountains that we’ve never seen.

Aaron is the spiraling robot quarterback in the history of all football’s that ever been thrown.

Jay slays dishes like she wants him to clone. Brianni is the big sister that we all wish we had known.

Brigitta is her daughter whose the light in all our lives that is a flickering.

Chi is our drama queen with Tim, the man of her dreams as they sit and drink a bottle of Angeline.

Mike turns tablecloths into yoga mats that we never knew we will never own.

But, that is my Father and don’t forget that.

Shane smiles at strangers and Lesa is the most dangerous gal I’ve ever known, with yoga lessons and wine flights, she’s the neighborhood diva with all the hindsight.

Frankie seems to be James Dean’s reincarnated ghost, but Max may be the only help we ever need.

Life is about rolling eggrolls, folding wontons, and slaving over hot stoves. Mentoring molded young minds to have great skills for the future shows. Being on center stage, making miracles happen from minimum wage. The burning of our tongues from too many jalapenos and being cured of hangovers by drinking the fresh, light and healthy broth.

All my Mom knows is how to run a restaurant and the only thing left to do is to eat some pho.

And the only thing left to do is get some wine at nine.

Epilogue:

This is my family’s restaurant and everyone who works for my parents is my family too.

My family provides hopes and dreams for people. We are supporting many teenager’s ambitions of becoming musicians. My Mom and Dad are helping someone purchase a house, a car, and for me to be my best self that I can ever be. This my extended family that is filled with little brothers that I always wished I had, brought me closer to my little sister, gave me a big brother and sister, a crazy auntie and none of this would be possible if my Mom didn’t have a dream to share her food with the world. This is why we have stayed as a running operation because we are one big family. This is what makes my Mom so special.

The best part is that she doesn’t even know it. She deserves to get more credit and appreciation for what she does every day. This is why I wrote this poem about her and all of the lives that she has touched at Kings Wine Bar. 

I knew the owner of Kings Wine Bar before she was famous because before that, she was and will always be my Mother; the most amazing woman that I will ever know.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

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