Would you believe I didn’t start drinking coffee until after I had kids? Yep. Not in college. Not in my early 20s. Not even during those 8am music theory classes when I probably should have been mainlining espresso just to stay upright.
Back then, I was a voice major – singing constantly, studying to be a music teacher. I drank tea occasionally (you know, for the vocal cords), but coffee? Not a chance. Didn’t need it, didn’t want it. I have no idea how I survived early mornings and long rehearsals without it. The energy of youth, I guess. Or maybe just sheer naïveté.
Now, my first real encounter with coffee was actually long before all that. I was a little girl at a Mother/Daughter Girl Scout dinner. My mom sent me over to the coffee station in the church hall to make her a cup. I had no idea what I was doing, but I’d seen her put in milk and sugar, so I went for it – with gusto. Pretty sure I dumped the entire sugar bowl in there. I took a sip (because curiosity, of course), and – BLECH! So gross. Way too sweet. I couldn’t understand why anyone drank this stuff voluntarily. It smelled good, but it tasted like hot sweet dirt. Pass.
Flash forward a few decades.
Enter: Louie. Our firstborn. 2001. That beautiful little night owl didn’t sleep through the night for an entire year. A year, people. My husband Lou was already a seasoned coffee drinker, but I still hadn’t converted. That all changed around month three of new-parent sleep deprivation. Suddenly, coffee started looking less like a bitter beverage and more like a miracle in a mug.
And so, my love story with coffee began.
Three kids later (all grown now!), coffee is part of my daily ritual. I adore it – the smell, the warmth, the taste. It’s comfort. It’s focus. It’s survival. I love experimenting with flavored creamers (hazelnut and cinnamon roll are current faves), and while I can technically get by on just one cup a day… why would I want to?
Coffee is one of my favorite things, hands down. These days, I drink it because I want to, not just because I need to. And if I ever skip a day? Let’s just say it’s not ideal. Caffeine withdrawal is real, folks. But so is coffee joy.
