Aurora Magazine 2019

“Just cream.” I replied. In that particular moment, I didn’t really want coffee, but it seemed to make them feel better to serve it to me. All they had at Saint Francis was powdered cream. I hat - ed powdered cream. I drank it anyway. “Thank you.” I said, as if one cup of coffee was going to undo any of the shock and fatigue of those last forty-eight hours. When the husband is away and after a sleepless night, the coffee does the trick. When a mother quickly dies, no cup of weak hospital coffee is going to do shit. The following twenty cups over the course of the next three days that led up to putting her in the ground? Those helped. Experts suggest conflicting opinions about the benefits of coffee, the addictive qualities rarely being taken into consider - ation. One study shows regular doses of caffeine can lead to heart disease, while others claim coffee’s power to reduce the risk of cancer and even ward of Alzheimer’s and diabetes. I guess the old adage is true, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I could conduct additional research or just get on with it. Done. I’m making another pot. I acknowledge the potential for shaky hands, the jitters they call it, and a heart attack. I often measure my need for afternoon coffee by the prob - ability that I will make it to a bedtime story without snapping at my five-year-old. A lofty goal, I know. It’s gotten to the point where when I pick my son up from pre-school he’ll ask, “Are you tired mommy?” This is his way of inquiring if we will be running through the Scooter’s drive-through for a latte and a piece of chocolate chip banana bread for him. Americans consume nearly four hundred million cups of coffee a day, the highest amount since 2012. What does that say about the temperament of the country? How many cups of coffee does it take to have the energy to deal with hate and division? Are most Americans driven to another cup after reading the latest Tweet from the President? If not coffee, what is keeping America up at night? What makes us need those four hundred 17