Before the coffee gets cold

My relationship with reading goes a very, very long way back. Growing up in the ’90s, going to bookstores excited me more than going to toy stores. My mom would let me buy at least one or two books every weekend sometimes comics while toys were a rare treat: twice a year, three if I was lucky, usually only on my birthday or Christmas 😅 As I grew older, my reading taste grew with me; from Sweet Valley Kids to Sweet Valley High, then Sweet Valley Junior High. I moved from Nancy Drew and The Babysitters Club to young teen magazines, until, somewhere along the way, I stopped. Books became more expensive, life got busy, and reading slowly faded into the background. When I had my first job, I promised myself that every payday I’d buy books and read again. I did for a while. Then life happened… and I stopped once more. Everything changed when my maternal grandmother passed away in 2023. Grief came in waves, and I needed an outlet; something quiet, something grounding. I found myself flipping pages again. Then, almost by chance, I picked up a book at Fully Booked. I was intrigued by the story, drawn in by my love for coffee, and curious about the Japanese author behind it. At first, the story felt slow. But then it pulled me in. By the time I finished the first book, I knew I needed the next two… then I waited for the fourth, and eventually the fifth. The Before the Coffee Gets Cold series became more than just something to read, it became a place where I could sit with my grief. Each story helped me make peace with the weight I was carrying. Of course, I wanted to see my grandmother again even for a short while, even just before the coffee got cold. But I would never change anything about the relationship we had. Yes, there were “what ifs,” but I know she wouldn’t want me to live there. These books helped me cope with the waves of grief that once knocked me down. They helped me understand, feel calm, and slowly find peace not by holding on to the hurt, but by learning how to let go. They reminded me to embrace the life I still have, the life my grandmother would surely want me to enjoy and live fully.