Dancing at My Desk

Saying Goodbye to a Dear Friend

I love coffee. I know a lot of people say they love coffee, but I really, really love coffee. It is truly the first thing on my mind in the mornings. So yesterday morning, I got a nasty (and really quite saddening) shock.

The alarms started buzzing at 5 am. My husband had to get to the airport so we were all up and on the go pretty early. I stumbled into the kitchen where my beloved coffee maker sits on the counter loaded and ready to go. I pushed the button to get it going and took the dog outside. When I came back in, the coffee maker was just sitting there. No dripping, no sounds as the water started to heat…. nothing. I tried unplugging it and plugging it back in. I tried shimmying the cord (hey, sometimes that works). I tried everything but still nothing.

My beloved coffee maker was dead.

You have to understand, this was not just any coffee maker. This was my very first one I ever owned personally.

My mom bought me this coffee pot the summer before my sophomore  year of college. The first one I ever owned. It cost $10 and it lasted just shy of 10 years. Talk about getting your money’s worth out of it. This coffee pot was my decaf pot during both of my pregnancies so my husband could still have regular coffee. This became our back up when we got a new one for a wedding gift (which incidentally, stopped working after 9 months – some blame the older pot for sabotaging the new one but I don’t buy it) and it was promoted our primary pot again.

It was there for me through all-nighters in college and with the kids when they were babies. It was there for dessert coffee while having a celebratory dinner with friends. It was there the first morning we woke up in our new house (in fact, it was the first thing I unpacked- yes, I may have a problem). It’s been there for morning coffee when I’m still trying to pry my eyes open and decaf evenings when we just wanted to chill in the house.

Yesterday I was a bit sad. I hated tweeting out the horrible news knowing that  many would gasp in sympathy. So last night after visiting with a non-appliance (aka human) friend, I stopped at the store and bought a new machine.

Sure, it’s pretty. It has lots of gadgets and gizmos (like a delayed brew so you can stumble directly out of bed and have coffee ready). It’s clean. It’s new. But it’s not the same. There’s nothing like your first when it comes to coffee. But I think we will learn to like each other. This morning it had my coffee ready at 6 am before I even got out of bed a few minutes later. Yes, I think this could be the start of something beautiful.

But I will always miss the first one I had. I never named it or anything – I’m not that weird. Sturdy, reliable (until yesterday morning anyway), and unassuming, it was a great friend. But goodbye little coffee pot. I’ll never forget you…