A famous coffee brand says having it in one’s cup is the best part of waking up. While I don’t choose that brand these days (sorry!), I do agree having coffee is one of the best perks of the morning. Even people who somehow don’t like the taste of coffee, can usually agree that the smell is amazing!

Being from up north originally (Minnesota) and having 65% of my personal DNA come from the Nordic countries, coffee just makes sense. It is like it is part of my blood and almost everyone on my dad’s side of the family starts drinking coffee by the time they reach double-digits. Gathering at an old cafe to sip on coffee and chat was a staple of our family time for as long as I can remember, and after my immediate family moved away when I was a kid and then would return to MN to visit, this tradition continued. As a young person, I would want to leave the restaurant to go do “SOMETHING,” wanting to ditch the adults and be with my cousins, not appreciating the connection that the setting and the the warm drink facilitated. Now, after time and the greater and greater dispersing of the extended family, and the sad losses of key players in the aforementioned described scene, those are some of my fondest memories.

Coffee has been such a staple in our family and in our home for my whole life—it’s a bit strange perhaps how something like water and coffee beans can make something so soothing and comforting—but it is the way it is.

Another fond memory I have related to the magical roasted beans is my dad singing the Ink Spots’ song called “The Java Jive,” and swapping out a few key lyrics for me. It is a cute song as is. If you are unfamiliar with this song from 1940 (way before my time and my dad’s time!), see the video and lyrics below.

“The Java Jive” (Ink Spots, 1940)

It’s a fun song, huh? Well, my name is Amber and my middle name is Marie. My mom goes by her initials of TJ, but many in the fam even shorten that and call her T. Many times when I was growing up, I would hear my dad sing this song, but say: “I love coffee, I love T, I love Amber and she loves me… coffee and T and Amber Marie… a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, ah…” I remember feeling very special when he would sing this to me, and it still comes to mind occasionally. Especially when I use my elaborate coffee station in my kitchen, or when I smell that aroma that sends me back to my childhood with cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents, gathered together in a a mad circus of talking and laughing and sipping away.

Life has gotten much more complicated since those early days at the cafe and the family has grown and changed immensely, but coffee will always be extremely meaningful to me.

Coffee and T and missing those early family memories…

A cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, ah… (Maybe I just found my sign-off?!)