Why have you started drinking milk in your coffee, Nana?”

My paternal grandmother – we called her “Nana” – died in 1999 at the age of 84. We were fortunate to have her visit us here on Prince Edward Island several times after we moved here, and it was so long ago that her visits serve, among other things, as a reminder of just how many epochs we’ve been here.

I remember visiting Nana at her house in Brantford when she was in her late 70s. We went out to dinner and when she was having her coffee once the meal was finished I watched her put milk in it.

I had never known her to have milk in her coffee; indeed both she and my parents would always order “black coffee,” to the point where I just assumed that’s what “coffee” was called.

Why have you started drinking milk in your coffee?”, I asked.

Well,” she replied, “I decided to try it one day and I liked it, so I started.”

That one incident has served me well in the years since, reminding me that it’s never too late to try new things, even things you never though you’d like.

In that same light, I really enjoyed this advertorial film from Vodafone about the first airplane flight of two Dutch women. Thanks to Neal Gillis for pointing me to it.

Comments

Parker Higgins's picture
Parker Higgins on April 15, 2014 - 02:00 Permalink

What a great story!


One small note: those women are Dutch. I panicked when I started watching it because I couldn’t understand a word they were saying.

Peter Rukavina's picture
Peter Rukavina on April 15, 2014 - 19:27 Permalink

I am forever mixing up the Dutch and the Germans, which neither appear to appreciate. Fixed, with thanks.