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A Drive Up Coast Highway

 

A friend and I were driving up the coast to San Simeon when it hit me that we would be driving near the home of my dear cousin and her four beautiful daughters in the quaint seaside town of Cambria.  I asked my friend is she would be willing to stop and “meet part of my family.”   She agreed and I slightly altered our course with a new heading to my cousin’s home.

After arriving, we went in to meet everyone and, as is rather typical in my extended family, ended up in the warm, inviting kitchen.  My mother’s family is Norwegian and instead of blood flowing in our veins, we have coffee.  As we stood in the kitchen, we were finally confronted by one of my cousin’s daughters with the inevitable question of “Would you like some coffee?”

My friend who was not a serious coffee drinker, spoke before I was able to accept and she said, “No thank you.”

The ensuing moment was something out of an episode of the Twilight Zone where someone clicks a switch and time stops and everyone freezes into their places, blankly looking forward.   All four of the girls stood there staring at us with their mouths slightly agape, unsure of what to say. 

I quickly realized that I needed to break the spell so I replied, “I would love a cup of coffee.” 

You could physically feel the wave of relief that swept across the room as everyone began breathing again.  My cousin’s daughters then began preparing the coffee and assembling a plate of homemade scones.  The items were taken outside to their charming patio and we all settled in for the ritual of a coffee klatch along with some lightly sweet treats. 

I later told my friend, “In my family, there is only one acceptable answer to the question, ‘Would you like some coffee’ and that answer is ‘Yes, thank you!’  It is similar in life being asked ‘how are you?’  the only polite and correct answer is ‘I’m fine.’   I suspect that no one had ever refused coffee before in that house and the girls honestly did not know how to respond or what to do next.” 

It is these quirks of my family that keeps me close to them and permits us to laugh at ourselves, especially when we have these moments when we can see ourselves through the eyes of an “outsider.”  

God Bless my Family and our traditions. 


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