I like to write on Sunday mornings after a coffee with a couple of friends because it is the time I feel the most refreshed. This past Sunday I started out with the hopes of writing a fantastic piece that I would be able to send off into cyberspace and look forward to the opinions all of you would share with me.
But I found it difficult to begin. Sometimes topics rush through my mind so fast that I can’t even spare a second. And then there are the days that my mind is so empty and hollow I can literally hear the echoes after my thoughts! What caused my writer’s block that day was thoughts about friendship; in particular, the friendship I shared with those whom I refer to as my “Coffee Companions.”
Like many people, the weekends are my favourite time of the week. To start off every Saturday and Sunday morning I meet up with a couple of friends, Ken and Shelly, for coffee at our local Starbucks. On Saturdays we discuss how our respective weeks went and on Sundays we talk about what we did on Saturday and what we will be doing for the week ahead.
We’ve been getting together for more than two years and it is always something I have looked forward to and do not like to miss. More important than just a routine, it is time for all three of us to ask questions, give answers and support wherever we can.
Being the youngest of the three, I often ask many questions and receive the most feedback, mainly because I won’t let either of them leave until I get an answer or advice that satisfies me! This past Sunday, I told them about my writing and how I had felt I was suffering from writer’s block. Ken was his usually coy self, scoffing at the notion of having writer’s block and telling me that writing should not be forced and required inspiration. As he considers himself a writer, I asked him was that why he had never been published?
Suffice to say, Ken refused to give me any more advice due to my Smart Alec remark! Shelly, who seems to tune out when Ken and I have these little disagreements/taunting matches, always brings a level of conscience to our meetings, always trying to find the positive side of things and being as rational as she can with two jocose individuals as Ken and I. Whenever we begin our chats on sports, she begins to read the newspaper, a signal that she is not impressed. This where Ken usually says, “Oh, we need to start paying attention to Shelly again!”
I honestly believe I need the weekend coffee breaks more than Ken or Shelly. I seem to do most of the talking and attempt to focus the topics on myself. That’s when you know you have true friends — they put up with your bombastic behaviour! I start off with off-the-cuff topics like how I had finally cooked dinner (pasta primavera) for my wife after almost three years of marriage, what kind of car should I buy or why I believe I am the best defenseman in my ice hockey league. (Seriously, I am!)
I often think about what brings the three of us together and I realized that it is as simple as friendship. Three very different people at different stages of their lives, and the friendship we have with one another is the only thing we have in common. There really is no need for any of us to continue to keep our weekend coffee routine alive; it is refreshing that it goes on because the three of us want it to.
Friendship is about being there for people during the good times, but more importantly for the times when maybe life is not going well. What I enjoy about each morning I spend with Ken and Shelly on the weekends is that no matter what my mood is going in, I always feel much better for the rest of the day.
Even after Ken tells me that even a baboon can cook pasta!
Photo Credit
“Joyce and Coffee” © Christpher Holt, 2010
Feature Photo, “Cloudlight”© Christpher Holt, 2010
Nothing better than going for coffee with friends and having a chance to talk about literature.
Jeff,
sounds like you have some decent friends. Being the “ute” in the group you should
perhaps pay more attention to what they say.
I know others who can cook pasta and this would confirm your friends comment.