Four Coffee Mugs

I've developed a ritual in recent years. A practice that began when my daughter gifted me a small coffee mug she bought at a thrift shop one Christmas several years ago. The ritual involves cycling through four specific coffee cups each day for my morning cup of coffee before I head to work. The four coffee cups have taken on an almost mythical space in my life. They each are special in their own way and bring to mind a specific cherished memory.

To be clear, I have several mugs of varying shapes and sizes, and they all get used; but these four mugs are set apart. They fulfill a specific purpose and hold a sacred space within my morning ritual.

There's a certain degree of OCPD energy when I regard my collection of four coffee mugs. There are no less than three criteria for a mug to be added into the rotation. Thus far, these four are the only mugs that have met them all.

1. Sentimentality

The first of the criteria needed to be added into the rotation is that the mug needs to bring about a certain memory... such that there is a sentimentality attached to its use.

The blue mug, for instance, was given to me by my daughter this past Father's Day. My parents and brother were with us at the time. We were having breakfast at Calico Cupboard: a local, barn house style... sort of folksy, breakfast eatery. We were waiting for our food to arrive when I opened her gift, which had a very sweet and thoughtful card attached to it. I am gifted the memory of this day whenever I drink from this mug.

The brown one next to it was given to me by my daughter a few Christmas's ago and was actually the first of the four now in the collection. For whatever reason she felt as though it was a mug I would appreciate, and I have. This mug in particular bares a resemblance to mugs I recall my grandparents drinking from at their kitchen table when I was a child. A whole host of memories come to mind when I recall those visits to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

The third mug I picked up at a tea shop in Fort Collins, CO when I was visiting my daughter at Colorado State University. She and I visited the shop for an afternoon tea and it was so nice to spend some time with her and see her in her element.

The final mug — the white one with the blue trim near the rim — was purchased at a thrift shop during a Saturday outing with my daughter. Before she moved away to attend college, she and I would frequently go on weekend adventures. These adventures often involve a trip to a thrift shop to garner a "haul" (a large collection of purchased clothing). On one particular outing of this nature, I happened upon this petite mug. I snagged it. Now, whenever I drink from it, I'm reminded of my thrifting adventures with Molly.

Indeed my daughter is brought to mind with the use of each of these four mugs. It's not the way it has to be, but thus far, these are the mugs which safely mark off the initial qualifier necessary to ensure a spot in my morning coffee mug collection — Sentimentality — and these are the only mugs, thus far, that have marked off the remaining two qualifiers as well.

2. Size

The second of the criteria is size. The mugs in this specific collection need to be a fraction of the size of a regular mug. There are a couple of reasons for this. For one, I can get to the bottom of the cup before the coffee goes cold. For another, I can trick my brain into believing drink 17 cups of coffee in the morning is really not as bad as it sounds, because after all... they're small cups (Now, hear me when I say this: I don't ACTUALLY drink 17 cups of coffee... but the small cup does enter into the mental calculus when determining whether or not I go for one more cup. I always go for one more cup.).

3. The Handle Needs to Fit The Hand

The third and final criteria needed for a mug to be added to my morning coffee mug collection is that the handle needs to perfectly fit my hand. I cannot abide with a mug handle that fits one and a half of my fingers. That type of mild irritation just won't fly. I need it to fit one, two or three of my fingers perfectly... If there's a mug out there that fits four of my fingers perfectly, I'd consider it... It just has to fit, and not just fit, fit perfectly.

So that's it... I wouldn't say I'm constantly on the lookout for mugs to add to my collection, but I do keep the thought in the back of my mind whenever I'm out and about. I love my four mugs and the morning ritual born of that first brown mug my daughter gave me all those years ago. These mugs produce in me a sense of nostalgia and warmth that serves as a boost on days when I don't particularly feel like starting.