Coffee and I have had a long, complicated and packed with adventure relationship. I've always knew Coffee, I suppose. We even hung out when I was 14, but things never worked out. Then came 1999 when Coffee and I rediscovered each other at a chance meeting far from home. After our awkward hellos, we realized the tangent of our relationship was an arrow shooting across the exhilaration of adventure all around us!

We stayed together as the months and years fell off the calendar, in and out of coffeehouses; through friends gained and friends lost; while new addresses aged to old addresses in Memphis, Flagstaff, Sitka and Anchorage; and across streets with no names in places like London, Paris, Rome and Denton.

In grad school, Coffee and I grew apart. How could this be? There was another who came into my life: Tea was so tantalizing! Exotic, even, a veiled traveler from the East. Tea and I spent the nights together in Prague and across the Czech Republic. Did Coffee lose the irresistible aroma? The smokey eyes? Did all those drives to work together make Coffee just ordinary?

My memories with Coffee faded in those years. Sure, when we bumped into each another, there was the occasional embrace between two old friends—there was so much history between us, afterall. However, our relationship had changed...we moved on—didn't we? Tea was my beloved; what room could there be for Coffee?

The years went on and something changed inside of me. I wanted to return to who I was. And I knew I had to find Coffee again. As we rode the rollercoaster of weightloss, Coffee and I held our arms high in gleeful abandonment, like air dancers across the night sky! But, I was unsure if we were right together—maybe I was scared—so, exactly 9 weeks ago today, I told Coffee we needed time apart. I did the whole, "it's not you, it's me" bit, knowing full well it wasn't ME, right?

I flirted with going back to the charms of Tea, even so far as to pull out the well-worn, little black book from storage. But...I knew what I felt inside wasn't about that. Ultimately, I wanted to be alone. I thought I needed to be by myself. I mean, there was the occasional thing with Hot Water, but you and I both know that it was just for the touch and not for anything long-lasting.

After two months apart, today, I came to my senses and ran back into the waiting, open arms of Coffee:

In the parking lot, one night near the summer's end,
I leaned back against the glass
Of a car to watch all those speeding comets crash.
Made me think about us.
Made me think about us.

Truly, truly, truly I want you.
Truly, truly, truly I do.
Truly, truly, truly I want you.

-Grant Lee Phillips, Truly, Truly