What Are You Brewing?

If we were having coffee…

…I’d first check to ensure mine is a Pumpkin Spiced Latte. Make all the jokes you want. Call me a middle-aged white woman (evidently, they are the only people allowed to like PSLs), but your jokes will be drowned out by the sounds of me slurping down this heavenly drink.

If we were having coffee, I’d then find a quiet place to sit so we could catch up…and be away from other humans.

If we were having coffee, I’d apologize for not keeping in touch. I’m doing my best, but staying quarantined seems to be the best thing for my mental health. I get so easily overwhelmed anymore that these walls I hide within have become a sanctuary from the outside world and all of its problems. I feel safe here.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that things are going well with Baby C. His therapist has decided there’s not much more he can do to help C, and thinks we’ve got a good handle on everything. C has been doing great in middle school so far.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that the twins turn 23 tomorrow, and I’m just not sure how to cope with that knowledge. I just don’t know how we got here. Okay, well, I know how we got here; I just don’t know how it happened so damned fast. It just seems like 23 years should’ve lasted a lot longer.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I’m worried about my former foster daughter. She is 19 now, and I still claim her as my daughter, but she’s having a tough time living independently. I’ve repeatedly asked her to move back home so she can get her shit together and get her life on solid footing, but so far, she’s not accepted. I get wanting to do it on your own, but (as I’ve explained to her multiple times) nobody got where they are without help.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you I’m going through the final edits of a novel I’ve been working on for about a decade. At least, I think these will be the final edits. I recently added a new sub-plot and a handful of scenes, so I’m just going through it one last time to ensure I didn’t introduce any continuity errors. Then I’ll be ready for beta readers.

If we were having coffee, I’d tell you that all tests still indicate I’m cancer-free. So suck it, cancer.

If we were having coffee, I would enjoy the relative calm of having a quiet conversation over a delicious beverage.

If we were having coffee, I’d apologize for droning on and on about all my shit and ask how things are going for you. How’s life? How are the kids? How’s work? How was your Thanksgiving? Tell me all the things.

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