‘Never ever give up’: New Arlington coffee shop honors owner’s son who died of cancer - The Dallas Morning News

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Maurice Ahern’s 7-year-old son, Micah, died in 2016 after a six-year battle with neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer. After Micah’s passing, Ahern knew he had to honor his son by continuing to make a positive impact on people’s lives, like his son did for so many.

But what exactly did that mean for Ahern? He knew he wanted to create a warm and inviting space where people could gather, and he wanted to do what he loved — baking and bringing people together.

“Micah’s motto is ‘never ever give up,’ because that’s what he did until the very end,” Ahern says.

And that’s what Ahern and his family had to do when they set out to open a coffee shop in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ahern opened Grounds & Gold Coffee Co. in Arlington along with his brother-in-law and mother-in-law, Jimmy and Jenifer Kinley. The new shop has an extensive coffee menu along with in-house baked goods, sandwiches, salads and more.

All the coffee is sourced from Merit Coffee Co., which has a cafe in Dallas.

Angelo Europe makes a Micah Mocha at Grounds & Gold Coffee Co. on Sept. 14, 2020 in Arlington. (Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)

Micah was in and out of the hospital for six years after his cancer diagnosis. Through that journey, Ahern learned about foundations and organizations that strive to help families going through similar experiences.

“What if I can do what I love, and give back to those things,” Ahern says.

That’s why a portion of all sales at Grounds & Gold Co. go toward organizations that help children with cancer, like Richardson-based Heroes For Children and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of North Texas.

Throughout the coffeeshop, you’ll find special tributes to Micah. For example, the house drink is called the Micah Mocha, which is inspired by Micah’s favorite candy — Almond Joy.

On the coffee cups you’ll see 28 coffee beans, symbolizing the day Micah was born on March 28 and the day he died — July 28, 2016.

The Cobb salad has purple pickled eggs in them, representing Micah’s special connection to the TCU baseball team.

Purple pickled eggs for TCU are served with the Cobb salad as a way to honor owner Maurice Ahern's late son Micah and his devotion to the baseball team at Grounds & Gold Coffee Co.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)

And right above the stage, you’ll see a big mural of Micah dressed as a superhero in the middle of a baseball diamond. Micah became an honorary teammate and friend to the TCU baseball team in 2013. The painted diamond’s four corners represent the four times the baseball team made it to the College World Series during Micah’s life, Ahern says.

Grounds & Gold Coffee Co. owner Maurice Ahern poses for a photo in front of the mural dedicated to his late son Micah.(Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer)

Grounds & Gold Coffee is among many coffee shops in Arlington, which is one of the reasons Ahern and the Kinleys decided to start their new business venture there. Earlier this year, Inclusion Coffee opened up near the UT-Arlington campus.

But before Ahern set his eyes on opening a coffee shop, he started a baking business called Gold Ribbon Confections more than three years ago. A dream that started in his small apartment kitchen quickly moved to a garage attached to the complex, and then to a separate catering kitchen.

Now, he sells his baked goods in the coffee shop, where everything is made in-house daily.

Ahern and the Kinleys continue to carry on Micah’s legacy every day by helping bring people together and creating a space where everyone feels welcomed — socially distanced for the time being, they say.

While they had plans to open the shop sooner, COVID-19 put a damper on that, but they took advantage of the extra time to perfect their design and menu and train the staff.

“It was his passion. You could tell no one was holding him back,” Jimmy Kinley says of Ahern. “There was nothing stopping him.”

Grounds & Gold Coffee is located at 4130 S. Bowen Road, Arlington. groundsandgold.com.

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