Drinking coffee with generations past

Where we live in North Alabama we kinda skipped over fall this year and just rushed right into winter as of this past week, but we are loving every second of it.

For us, winter is one of the shortest seasons of the year, it sneaks in between fall and spring so fast that if you blink you might miss it, and before you know it we’re at 100 degree heat index again. So needless to say, we try to get out and experience whenever the opportunity presents itself.

With our son away at college now, just the three of us are left at home. Katy is soon to be fourteen years old and we are cherishing our special time with her. Each of us, even Katy, have noticed how quickly this year has flown by and so we decided to make a pact with one another that we would go for a walk, every night, after supper.

It’s been a little over a week now and we’ve kept it up. We finish our supper, put on a pot of coffee for later, grab out coats and flashlights and set out.

There is a quietness in the winter night that is unlike any other, a peace over everything no matter how busy the day – and that is exactly what we’re going for.

And we step out of this world and into that one, and we walk, and we talk, and we laugh, and we talk over our days. Often, we stop to take photos of the moon or pet some of the friendly neighborhood cats who join us for part of our journey. Sometimes we pause to sit on the curb and just be still for a bit.

Then we come home to a fresh pot of coffee, take off our coats, and sit down together, none of us wanting to let go of this special time just yet. Our coffee is like the porridge of three bears. My husband’s is black, mine has a little cream in it, and Katy’s is light as can be with extra sweetness, just like my Grandmama used to make me when I was her age.

And the pouring of the coffee seems to signal the time to reminisce as my husband and I share memories of our childhood with Katy and she listens with a twinkle in her eye, eager to imagine her parents and previous generations as they were decades ago.

I know she feels that same magical connection that I felt when I was in her shoes, sitting with my grandparents over evening coffee and listening to them talk over old times. Memories were passed on to me that were so vivid and detailed that I still see them in my mind, playing out before my eyes. I can tell you stories about ancestors who were gone a generation before I arrived as if I had grown up alongside them. Family stories of hardship, overcoming, love, and laughter, lots of laughter.

It was their legacy. It became mine, and it will be Katy’s.

And I know that someday, because of these evenings, she will have these special nights with her own children. Chances are they will begin just as they did for me as a child and just as they do for her – with loving hands making up a special cup of coffee, extra sweet, for the extra special memories being made.

This post was graciously sponsored by my friends at Red Diamond Coffee & Tea. Red Diamond is an Alabama based, family owned company that has been serving up delicious coffee for generations and it’s all we’ve drank for about two years now because it’s just the best. Thank you, Red Diamond, for helping me encourage families to slow down, savor the precious moments in our life, and enjoy our loved ones every chance we get.