‘The Theme’

Sunday morning, September 24, 2006.  The alarm goes off at 7 a.m. just like any other Sunday.  I hit the snooze button.  I roll around in bed, slowly open my eyes and take a deep breath.  Something is different this morning.  Usually, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee floats through the air, penetrates the door to my room, hovers above my bed, and like a programmed robot, I get up and head to the shower, thinking only of the delicious cup of coffee waiting for me.  But this morning, nothing! Why should I get up?  My daily routine of pouring hot, steaming black coffee slowly into my enormous ceramic mug will not happen today, and will not happen for another 29 days.  I should just go back to sleep.  But wait…I have work!

It’s 8 a.m. and I’ve managed to make it to my car for my journey to work.  I’m stuck in horrible traffic due to the 4th circle detour.  The usual 5 minute drive to work now takes 15 minutes.  I look around at the frustrated drivers beside me.  I look down at my cup holder…it’s empty!  I usually have a large thermos filled to the rim with coffee made from the best coffee beans on earth resting in that cup holder.  But today its empty…No thermos, no coffee.  My brain is half asleep.  My body is lacking its daily dose of caffeine.

The two scenarios above happen to me every year on the first day of Ramadan.  My morning coffee is a ritual; a tradition.  But this is something I have to live without for 30 days of the year.  As the days go by, it gets easier.  My body and my brain adjust. But walking past that empty coffee pot simply reminds me of the joy I get when I have the first sip of coffee every morning…heaven!