Life is like coffee

Drinking coffee is more than just for the sake of enjoying a mix of sugar, coffee, water, or even some cream. Coffee keeps memories and experiences that will never be repeated again.

Every time I drink coffee, I recall my past memories and how I struggled in life.

I started drinking coffee when I was child, having grown up in a family that really loved it. While childhood is a time for drinking milk, I was different. My mother gave me coffee every morning and sometimes every few hours, not because she did not have money to buy milk, but because she saw my cute smile whenever I drank coffee.

Our family could drink coffee four or five times a day. That habit has stayed with me until now. If I do not drink coffee in a day, I feel there is something lacking. I would spend money to try out coffee in cafés.

The thing that I miss most about home was drinking coffee with my family every morning. That’s quality time for us to exchange stories or jokes, and enjoy every gulp of coffee under the warmth of the morning sun. There was happiness there, although our lives had plenty of obstacles. When I left for studies, my mother did not prepare cake or something to eat, but she packed coffee.

In college, with plenty of assignments, a cup of coffee every 9 p.m. helped me to stay focused in front of the computer or while reading books. Coffee stimulated my mind to find inspirations or ideas. In midday after lunch in campus, a cup of coffee made me alert for the afternoon classes.

On weekends, while other young men went to watch movies or go on dates, I’d visit a cafe. Some friends joked, “you are a villager,” because I drank coffee too much. But they did not know how the bitterness of coffee describes my life story.

I have gone through many challenges in life. My father died when I was a child. After his death, my family faced many problems. I almost stopped many times in senior high school and college due to financial problems. That was the time when our rice fields were not yielding harvest.

But an unexpected thing happened: Our coffee plantation yielded a lot of harvest. It did not solve the whole situation, but it came at the right time. It was a blessing.

Every time I faced those challenges, I would drink coffee without sugar. I was not running away from reality, but it helped me calm down and lessen the stress. In the bitterness of coffee, I could think well about how to solve my problems.

Coffee describes my life. I have had my share of success and failures; life is both sweet and bitter. Just like coffee.

I am staying in the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM) novitiate community with some friends. We have plenty of coffee, and I can drink it whenever I want to. I’d sit on the second floor of our building enjoying my cup of coffee and listening to “Home” by Michael Buble. In that beautiful moment, everything is sweet except for my coffee, which is still bitter.

But coffee is not only about bitterness and sweetness, it is about home, family and life as well.

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Ricky Gabut, 25, is a noviceor, a member of the CICM novitiate community.