The Story of a Boy and a Bean

When I was young I loved coffee. Other than the occasional sip I wasn't allowed to have it, so I would carefully sneak into the kitchen, climb up the side of a bookshelf onto the counter, and retrieve the big can of ground coffee that was always on hand in an upper cabinet and eat me a big ole scoop. Oh, yes. I was such a daredevil!

One of my favorite aspects of coffee is its smell. Fresh-brewed or still in the can makes no difference. One of these days when my children are out of the house and I have a life again, I want to go to a Starbucks and just sit. For hours. Reading and smelling. Ahhh... For now I'm content just walking down the coffee aisle at the local supermarket.

Just like a chip off the old block, John-Heath is also a fan. Since we brew decaf in our home I will allow him a cup every now and again. You should see him mimic people while drinking it. He does a particularly good impression of a sophisticated adult - which we think may be based on his principal.

Anyway, on to the bean. I know you're all just dying to know how the bean comes into play.

This past Saturday night, John, John-Heath, and I stopped by the Wal-mart in a neighboring town to pick up a few things before heading home. Normally, when we're in a hurry we'll each grab a shopping cart and split up to cover more ground. On this night John-Heath stayed with his dad, sitting in the main part of the buggy. About 45 minutes later we met up with each other in a checkout line.

After chit-chatting with some friends who were in the same line, John leans in and whispers in my ear, "Don't panic, but John-Heath has a coffee bean stuck up his nose."

I won't bore you with all the details of what happened between that moment and the moment the third doctor in the ER came in to give an opinion (and luckily the opinion that worked, thanks to a carefully inserted balloon catheter), nor repeat what I said to John on the ride to the hospital because he had decided to "just finish his shopping first". Suffice to say, he quickly saw the error in his thinking when doctor #2 stated that, due to how high and tightly the bean was lodged, we were probably looking at an impending trip to Vanderbilt where it would need to be surgically removed. I almost felt sorry for him at that moment.

But it all worked out in the end and John-Heath was able to add one more fabulous story to his repertoire and for even a little while after the whole ordeal, he was able to enjoy the built-in smell of coffee, which he thought was kinda cool.



And just how did he wind up with the bean in his nose? Well, he's like his momma and enjoys certain smells. So, as he was passing by the aisle with the coffee beans, he decided to pick one up and give it a whiff. He had the bean too close to his nostril, took a big sniff, and up she went!