Coffee in the Afternoon

or

I Miss My Mother
especially this time of the year.  


I read a tiny article in Ladies' Home Journal yesterday.


So brief that I can copy it.


"If your daughter is stressed out, the soothing sound of your voice can relieve her anxiety as much as an actual hug, says a University of Wisconsin-Madison study.  After a series of challenging tests, girls who were comforted by their mom in person or over the phone experienced a surge in oxytocin, the bonding hormone that also calms your stress response.  In contrast, girls who had no contact with their mother showed no rise in oxytocin.  So if you can't be there, speed-dial your daughter after her difficult exam, important performance or other big event (or tell her to call you)."  


I have four daughters and I don't have to tell them to call me - and I would need a speed-dial to make the call before they call me.  I did the same with my mom - only when I was in college we didn't have cell phones - there was a payphone out in the hall - for everyone to use.  When I transferred to Auburn we did have phones in our rooms  -  ahhhh, but the cost of a phone call.  Mother wrote me a lot of letters.  I checked mail all the time and was seldom disappointed.  I wrote her also.  No email in those days.  Handwriting - and with stamps and drop it in the mailbox.


So - about missing Mother - this time of year.  She loved "afternoon coffee".  Black - and so did I.  I don't drink it so much anymore, in the afternoon - just in the mornings - but when I want to feel like I'm visiting with her - I make a pot - and remember how it used to be with her.  


so this afternoon - I made coffee - and selected the mug I wanted to use.  Mother's plaid dishes.  Organdie by Vernonware.  Mother never actually had mugs.  She and her friends and her sisters drank out of a cup and saucer.  I just ordered this mug off of ebay one year.  I think most of us prefer mugs now.

But if we all convened over at my grandmother's house (Ella's house) 

this is what our coffee would be served in.

And it would be very strong, very black, coffee.

And the conversation would begin.

and the laughing and the questions and the answers.

and how we used to prepare coffee,

in a stovetop percolator.

I still do that all along.  I love the flavor.

So - Fall - nostalgia - moms - nurturing - 

make chili at the first cool snap - or just turn the air down really low to justify something warm, 

like soup or chili.  

Football - parades - homecoming - all of that.

Everyone always wants their mom - no matter the age.

Here's Mother reading to Ann and Laura Beth

Holding Sarah on vacation with us in Orange Beach, AL

and here she is holding Kate, on Kate's first night home from the hospital.

That's all.  I just wanted to talk about my mom.