By Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee
Skip and I were sitting at a Krispy Kreme ... drinking hot coffee ... the best coffee I know!
Condensation on the inside of the clear, glass carafe ... sound of water dripping into the carafe as it ran its cycle. I love to hear, watch the coffee-maker as it goes through the process of making coffee, heating water. Comforting ... pure comfort.
Pouring hot water into the cup ... tearing open a little packet of Folger's coffee powder ... dumping it into the hot water. Stirring ... adding cream until it's just like I love it. Give me extra cream, please. Oh-hhhhhh, so good. Comforting ... pure comfort.
The sound of coffee percolating ... who ever hears that wonderful sound now? That was from the days of our grandmas. I don't know about you, but ... as a child I lived with my Grandma Alma and George.
They lived in Hell ... strange enough, even in Hell ... one finds comfort ... such as in a percolating coffee-pot. I would watch the coffee as it percolated inside the glass 'knob' on the top of the metal lid. Magical to a little girl! Beautiful, happy ... comfort ... pure comfort.
I got to taste the coffee as a little girl. I couldn't have much because it could make me ... ugly. As a little girl, I wasn't worried about being ugly ... I just wanted that wonderful aroma ... warmth of drinking the hot coffee. I wanted anything warm, comforting to escape Hell. Coffee, hot chocolate was comfort ... pure comfort. I could close my eyes and be somewhere else ... feel the warmth of the cup ... in my hands.
I watched Grandma Alma, George sit, drink their coffee. They enjoyed it so much ... one of the few comforting things in their life of pure Hell. Coffee to them ... to me ... was comfort ... pure comfort.
When something bad happens ... what is the first thing someone wants? A good, hot cup of coffee. Comfort ... pure comfort.
When I have experienced all the bad in my life ... somehow, a cup of hot coffee was around. If it isn't, I will make it be. If it's nowhere to be found, I am wishing for it ... why? Comfort ... pure comfort.
Think about it ... become aware. When bad things happen ... watch on the news ... what is being offered to rescue workers, people who have been through a trauma? Coffee. Comfort ... pure comfort.
I was talking to Skip this morning by cell phone. I was making a cup of coffee, we were talking about how we like our coffee, so on. It reminded us of our grandmas ... how we both would ask for coffee as a child. Now, when we drink coffee ... it reminds us of special people we loved dearly as a child.
My Grandma Alma and George were my lighthouse in the darkness of Hell as a child. I remember how I would take a deep breath, smell the wonderful aroma of that coffee in their awful house.
Coffee made all disappear for a short time ... beautiful aroma ... hot coffee in a cup ... holding it in my little hands. The cup of coffee would make the bad better.
I loved the warmth of their old, thick, white coffee cups (like at the Waffle House). My hands held on to ... comfort ... pure comfort for as long as I could.
Now ... I look back all through the years. So much bad ... has been in my life. I'm not a big coffee-drinker, but do you know what? That's what was in my hands each time something bad happened.
I'll never forget my best friend, Ms Nancy ... doing something that struck a deep chord in me. There wasn't any way for her to know how much hot coffee would mean to me at a horrible time in my life ... yet, she gave us comfort that lasted long after she was gone.
Do you know what she did? Our home had just burned down ... claiming everything we owned. The Red Cross had just gotten us, our Pups a room at a motel. Ms Nancy did something I will never-ever forget ... I will always love her extra for doing it ... she brought to us ... a container with coffee, and a coffee-maker, filters, creamer ... cups.
She never knew how much it meant to me. I can still look back, see myself and Skip sitting in shock at the motel room. One of us had made the coffee ... I can see myself holding my cup of hot coffee.
I held the warmth of the coffee cup in the palms of my hands even after putting the cup down. Another bad time in my life ... coffee was there. Comfort ... pure comfort.
Note by this Author:
Photos, story is true, owned/written by me ... Gloria Faye Brown Bates/aka Granny Gee.
Ms Nancy, you don't know how you touched my very Heart with your gift to make us feel better. It made such a difference at that terrible time in my life. I never told you how much hot coffee meant to me ... when things are both good and bad in my life. Comfort ... pure comfort.
Our grandmas let us have coffee when no one else would. We sit sometimes, talk about it ... while drinking hot coffee. Why? Comfort ... pure comfort.
It's amazing what a hot cup of coffee can do. It can bring people together in a special way. Even the meanest of people will mellow out if you give them a good, hot cup of coffee. I know ... there are some mean-asses that will never mellow out ... they can't live with themselves, much less with kindness from others.
I think hot coffee with its special aroma has the ability to reach someone's soul ... the warmth to melt the ice in one's heart. Don't believe me? Offer a cold drink in place of hot coffee ... sure, it'll be welcomed ... but, there's something magical about hot coffee. Comfort ... pure comfort.
No I did not know you loved that hot cup of coffee so much. I just thought it would help you and Skip in some way. You are right----a hot cup of coffee will make anyone feel better after somthing happens that is very upsetting. I just wanted to help in some way and that was the only thing I could think of that I could do at that moment. A good hot cup of coffee should help anyone feel better and comfort them. Best friends are hard to come by. It hurts to see one's best friend lose everything and especially painful if one doesn't know what to do to help her/him. I am glad I was able to help comfort you. Love, Ms. Nancy
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