Coffee

The freshman across the hall from me at St. John's Annapolis, 1967, had never tasted coffee in his life, and decided to have a cup after dinner. HE STAYED AWAKE ALL NIGHT!

I started drinking coffee with my mother when I was age 10. Junior High through High, I drank a lot of coffee to stay alert and study.

A Mormon businessman who visited us said "no thanks" to our coffee pot, but, at lunch time, ordered a Coke. I whispered to him that coke has caffeine. He laughed and said "Oh, I am not THAT strict."

My senior year at St. Johns, in 1970-71, I got a little espresso pot. I drank too much one evening and felt my heart pounding. I have always tested ok even now at age 59 with regard to cardiovascular.

If someone were to tell me that coffee has deprived me of an extra 10 years of life, I would have no regrets. Besides, the years it would steal are those stinking years, in your 70s or 80s.

My mom was such a coffee drinker all her life. She was in a nursing home for a month or so, because of a broken wrist. I traveled 3 hours to pick her up and take her home. The VERY FIRST thing she wanted was to stop at a 7-11 store on the way, and have a cup of coffee. She slurped it greedily. I guess they had crummy coffee, or no coffee or sanka at that damn nursing home.