A Father's Day Salute

Coffee was always a big part of my family growing up. The smell of fresh brewed coffee was what woke me up in the morning long before the alarm went off.

My father traveled as a salesman when I was growing up and my mother would rise early to make sure he had his coffee and a couple of extra cups for the drive.

She would grind the beans and then brew the coffee. The fragrance would fill the downstairs and rise up the stairs to our bedrooms.

It's funny how so many of our memories are tied to smells remembered. When I first got my drivers license, my Dad poured me my first cup of coffee (official one that is). As we sat there talking I realized this was one of those rights of passage you remember later in life. And I do.

As we both grew older we would sit and talk over many cups of coffee solving the worlds problems and many of our own besides. I always marveled how a cup of coffee could connect us over time and space.

This year my Dad won't be here to share a cup of coffee with me. But I still have the memories and the love of coffee today.

Thanks Dad for the memories, the love and the enjoyment of coffee.

For all of you Dads out there, Happy Father's Day. A tip of the mug to you all,

Not the usual grind,