Enjoy Community And Coffee Therapy With Folgers #sharefolgers

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This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of The J.M. Smucker Company. The opinions and text are all mine. I’m partnering with Folgers® at Walmart through the Share A Cup & A Story campaign to create personal connections within my community.

As I am busy getting my kids ready for school, running around, trying to catch every sale, just like most moms, I realized summer is fading away. The cool crisp morning air with filtered hints of warm sunshine while I drink my freshly brewed cup of Folgers coffee, will soon be in the past as the Oregon rain once again returns for the long haul. At this moment, I decided I needed to make the best of every remaining summer morning.

Earlier this year we got a new neighbor, a busy mother with 4 beautiful daughters. Our kids had played together all summer and created several wonderful childhood memories. A few weeks ago I learned that her husband was a firefighter…… as is mine. This would explain why her husband is not around very often.

You see, being a firefighter’s wife is a hard concept for most to understand, it is a different lifestyle. I knew, watching her and how sweet she was with her children and knowing the challenge of having to be both mother and father most days, that I needed to reach out. After all, I brew a whole pot of Folgers coffee every morning, I can’t let it go to waste! She quickly accepted my invite, and set a time for the very next day… I was thrilled to see she was excited about this connection, just as much as I was. To be honest, I think we both needed it!

I was so excited about the engagement that I went to go prep right away. I soon realized that I was out of Folgers coffee, and you can’t meet for coffee without, well, coffee of course! So I headed to my local Walmart to get coffee, English muffins, cream and a few extra little goodies for the kids.

The next morning couldn’t come soon enough, I was excited to make a new friend and bond on a level that nobody else could understand. She showed up promptly at 9am with kids in tow. However, my kids took over right away and they were lost in their own world feeding the chickens and playing “wilderness” in the fort with all their fresh picked goodies from the garden. We sat on the deck to stay within earshot of the kids. As I poured each of us the first cup of freshly brewed Folgers coffee, I think we simultaneously breathed in the calming aroma and let out a large sigh of the weeks pent-up stress.

I shared with her that I had just received word that morning that my husband’s department was set to MOB (mobilization) out to a forest fire and he was expected to be gone for at least 2 weeks… during that time he would miss our son’s 7th birthday and our anniversary. We both talked about the struggles of being a firefighters wife… we have squared our shoulders and taken it on with a smile on our face… but it is hard. We know the things our husbands see, we know the situations they face, and we know the danger that are put in, BUT we also know how much they LOVE their job. In fact our stories are very similar. Our men wanted this career so bad that they both worked full time jobs while simultaneously volunteering for years, this had made us basically single parents raising our children while our men worked very hard for the career they have. Just to give you an idea…. when Portland Fire opens up positions once every 2 years… they have almost 4,000 applicants for 7 positions. It is a very hard and competitive career. While talking to her, we could totally relate to the feeling of being tired, running kids around, fulfilling the role of both parents, and even when they are home, knowing that they may be tired from being up all night or even being considerate knowing that they may have had a tough call that is weighing in their mind. Our husbands are always referred to as heroes. I couldn’t agree more, but if you know of a wife or child of a firefighter… they are heroes in their own way and need a hug too! I remember so clearly, one of my children coming up to me at a group gathering and asking, “Is daddy coming home tonight?” I causally answered “No, not tonight.” My friend responded with, “I can’t imagine how that would be, not having your husband home every night.” What is odd to others, is totally normal to me!

We spent over 2 hours laughing, talking, sharing stories and offering support! I encourage you to reach out, make a new friend or offer support to a long lost friend or neighbor. Everyone could use a little community and coffee therapy.