When you were up nights wondering about a job that might not come through, how you were going to pay the bills when you had no money, or when you were considering whether to end a relationship that was just not working out anymore, your friend was likely a cup of coffee.

Consider that you once were leaving home, sitting at the dining room table with your family giving them the news. Not only does this gift from the gods maddy you up and get you going, but it also is a glue that holds your life together. You were likely sharing a cup of coffee while you did it. Generally, your buying decisions are based on your available cash at hand, or so. When your first child was born, you were drinking coffee while you waited away the long hours for your new tax deduction to appear. If you are not a "morning person," you know that the benefits of coffee go beyond the wonderful smell that drifts through the house as your coffee maker churns and sputters out that magic elixer.

Coffee is the second most consumed beverage in the world, second only to water with good reason.

I'm not being too melodramatic.