The brew that refreshes

Moving on from the solemn to the sobbering I sit at my keyboard eagerly awaiting my freshly brewed mug of coffee.  That's right, a mug, no chintzy meager portions of this delightful beverage for me.  I can smell the aromatic potion as this marvelous scent wafts its way through the house and down the hallway to my study.  Plain, unaltered coffee; that's the drink for me.  I have loved coffee since I was a child.  My grandmother used to think we needed to put milk and sugar in it to make it palatable for us.  Little did she know that when we were at home we would sneak the coffee Mom and Dad left in their cups when they wweren't looking.  As I grew to my teen years I was allowed to join the adults in partaking of this wonderful beverage.  When I attended college a beloved professor of English literature wrote parts in a skit for my best friend and me.  My character was Kathy Olsen after Mrs Olsen from the old Folger's coffee commercial.  I wore a Scandinavian sweater and carried around a coffe pot.  Guess he had my number.  My parents saw to it I had a coffee maker for my dorm room.  Now this was no 12-cup pot; it was a full blown 30-cup coffee maker so my friends and I would have plenty of coffee when we were studying.  I was given the nickname 'Coffee Kathy'.  When my husband and I began dating we could be seen walking about campus holding hands ... but our free hands each held a cup of coffee.  I once knew a pastor who referred to coffee as 'Norwegian holy water'.  I think perhaps he was right.  I know of very few people of Scandinavian descent who dislike coffee.  Over the past few years there has been quite an argument going back and forth as to whether one must drink decaffeinated or may partake of regular coffee.  There seem to be a few nods in favor of decaffeinated associated with feeling jittery and adverse effects on blood pressure.  There are nods to the contrary concerning blood pressure.  An amount of caffeine is contained in various medications including those for headaches.  More recently studies have come out stating a benefit of caffeine contained specifically in coffee in delaying the onset of Alzheimer's.  Nevertheless, each must make up his/her own mind in the matter.  To me the positives outway the negatives.  Now, where's my coffee?