When my mother was going into labor and it was time for my dad to take her to the hospital, where our new baby brother would soon be born, dad took me and my sister Wilma over to the Owens house. I suppose they had agreed at some point to care for us . Neither me nor my sister had ever stayed overnight with anyone or at least we were too young to remember if we ever had. It was late in the evening and we were put to bed with some of the older children of the Owens family. I slept with Carl and my sister slept with Jewel and Jane.

When we awoke the following morning, we were greet by some great smells coming from the kitchen. Clara Owens was already preparing a wonderful breakfast for the family. She made those huge "cathead biscuits." They were golden brown and light as a feather, a youngster like me could only eat one of these delectable treats. She also had a big cast iron pan of gravy, we called it "put-sop" ,made from milk,flour and drippings from the bacon we would also eat with the eggs and grits she was cooking.

Cranford Owens, the head of the household was enjoying a fresh cup of coffee. We affectionately knew him as Pap. He had a big green cup and a saucer from which he drank his morning coffee. He poured his coffee from the cup into the saucer and when he took a sip, he slurped it. When Pap  would raise up from getting his sip, he made all sorts of contortions with his face and groaned a loud sigh of satisfaction. This really appealed to me as a boy and I knew that that coffee must be really good to get such a response. I watched every sip he took, seems he had intentionally put on the show to see my reaction..He succeeded in making me want some of his coffee.

Clara,noticed the look of amazement on my face and ask if I might like to try some coffee. I said, "Yes, ma'am, I would like some coffee." She poured me some in a small cup, added a little cream and sugar and placed it in a saucer much like the one Pap had. I poured some in the saucer and slurped just like Pap had demonstrated. I immediately liked the taste of the coffee which Clara had added cream and sugar but didn't start drinking it regularly until I was much older.

Today there are a lot of coffee shops, even one of our local grocery chains has a Starbucks as does the Target. These are pricey brews with the least cup of house blend coffee being around a buck- fifty plus the governors share. Cappacino and other coffee drinks are also available at these establishments.

The medical community offers two opinions, coffee is not good for you because of the caffein and some say coffee is good for you. As for me, I'm no doctor bu I don't really think it is bad for youe health unless the caffein causes you sleeplessness or makes you jittery. I like mine hot, black and stout.