No, I Won’t Meet You in Montana

October 12, 2026October 11, 2026Benjamin1 Comment

“Won’t You Meet Me In Montana?”

October 12, 2026

No, I won’t meet you in Montana. Especially on Monday.

couple among trees in snow — _{^{Photo by Hugo Sykes on Pexels.com}}

The National Weather Service has issued winter storm warnings for parts of the state through Monday morning. An earlier forecast called for 10 to 20 inches of snow in some areas, with isolated totals approaching 30 inches in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Thirty inches. That is considerably more wilderness than I require.

NBC Montana also reported that the Beartooth Highway’s closure was moved up to Friday because of the approaching winter weather. When even the highway is closing early, I consider that a fairly clear invitation to stay home.

Some folks see that forecast and think, “How beautiful! Let’s pack up and spend the winter there.”

I admire their enthusiasm. From Arizona.

Desert living suits Steve and me just fine. Give me a wide horizon, a warm afternoon, and a winter wardrobe that doesn’t require instructions.

Somewhere in my head, the Green Acres theme is playing while I compose my own little tribute to staying warm. Steve has probably heard enough of it already.

I have gone north in November. I was younger then. I didn’t know what I know now.

pouring hot tea from thermos — ^{_{Photo by Amine on Pexels.com}}

The sky would turn gray, and the weather forecaster would assure us that we were expecting wind and cold. Then we would wake up to waist-deep snow.

Apparently, the snow had neglected to attend the briefing.

I remember drifts deep enough for cattle to walk over barbed-wire fences and wander miles from where they belonged. Across that stretch of country—Texas, the Oklahoma Panhandle, southwestern Kansas, and into Colorado—winter could make a fence seem more like a suggestion.

The cattle weren’t respecting property lines. They were looking for somewhere better to stand.

I understood their position.

I have also gone into Wyoming in December, when the forecast called for “a dusting.”

A foot of snow later, I began to suspect that Wyoming used a different measuring system.

I was young enough to tolerate it then. Or at least young enough to claim I could. There may also have been a few questionable concoctions involved that improved my opinion of the situation without improving the weather.

They didn’t melt the snow. They merely made being trapped indoors seem briefly like something I had agreed to.

Meanwhile, the snow kept piling up outside, and the roofline began looking uncomfortably close to ground level.

These are experiences that build character. I believe I have accumulated enough character to remain in Mesa.

So, no, I won’t be meeting anyone in Montana on Monday. Not for snow, a sick moose, or a lost tourist. Send photographs. I will study them from a comfortable chair and express the appropriate concern.

I moved to the desert to stay warm, and that decision continues to hold up beautifully.

If I get too warm, I can daydream about lounging beside the pool, with my broken leg propped safely out of the proceedings. Otis will be looking at me as though I’m the household misfit.

This from a dog who considers running through the house at aircraft speed a reasonable afternoon activity.

In my version of the pool scene, he eventually joins me, dog-paddles back to his float, and settles beside a water bottle with a little umbrella attached.

He has no job, pays no bills, and somehow ends up on the better vacation.

That is life around here, folks.

Monday, October 12, 2026. I checked. It is Monday.

Mesa may have a few showers in the forecast, but nobody is predicting that I’ll need to shovel my way to breakfast.

Montana can keep the snow. I’ll keep the coffee.

And if you need me, you know where to find me.

Somewhere warm.

Signature of Benjamin Groff with attribution and copyright information

Morning Coffee: Climbing the Family Ladder

Featured1 Comment

Sometimes you have to question what your told. This is about abunch of those times.

October 6th, 2026

Good morning, folks!

I thought I would bring you up to date on how I’m doing socially and professionally. Despite doing absolutely nothing, I continue to climb the ladder of success.

Abstract torn-paper collage revealing a glowing geometric grid in blue, gold, and purple

For years, I had cousins in Oklahoma and Arkansas, with a few sprinkled across Texas. I was the adventurous one who made it to Colorado, Wyoming, and Arizona. But now a cousin of mine has moved from Kansas City to Chicago. Technically, he’s my cousin’s son, but he’s only ten years younger than I am, so we’ve never bothered with the fine print.

He lives about twenty floors up. That is a level of upward mobility I could never achieve without an elevator. When I pass through Chicago, I plan to announce that I’m stopping by the penthouse. Whether he actually lives in a penthouse is a detail I’ll leave out.

Did I mention he’s a doctor? Around the café, that earns me another badge of distinction, even though I didn’t attend a single one of his classes.

I’m having fun with it, of course. My cousin’s accomplishments belong to him. But people borrow the shine from someone else’s success all the time. Sometimes it’s harmless bragging over coffee. Sometimes that borrowed shine is used to convince us to trust someone or accept a deal we haven’t looked at closely.

That brings me to a habit I learned as a law enforcement officer, one that has helped me many times since: question what you’re told.

If a story sounds convincing, ask what supports it. If someone claims an impressive connection, find out what that connection actually means. If an offer sounds too good to pass up, take the time to read the terms. You don’t have to be suspicious of everyone. You can simply give yourself room to check the facts before you decide.

Sometimes the evidence confirms the story. Other times, it shows you something quite different.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to finish my coffee and call my cousin. I have to find out whether I can honestly keep saying “penthouse.”

September 21, 2026September 19, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

By the Time Hollywood Gets to Georgia – The GOP Will Be Crying…

Conservative states may believe they are taking Hollywood away from California. But movie productions bring more than cameras, celebrities and California money. They also bring thousands of workers—and some may decide to stay. While political leaders carefully redraw their districts, could they also be importing the very voters who might redraw their political future?

September 21, 2026

###

Take a big long sip!

You are going to need it. Maybe take another.

This will be a morning that you also should take bite out of something sweet. I suggest an Apple Fritter. Heavily glazed. The sugar rush will come in later regardless.

Now then.

Stylized United States map linking Hollywood, Phoenix, Dallas, Austin, and Atlanta — _{^{A cinematic map connects Hollywood with major production hubs across the United States.}}

Sheriff Otis and I have been listening to all this talk about re-districting— those voter’s districts being re-drawn, challenged, redrawn, rechallenged and hauled through the courts until nobody is entirely sure which district they live in or whether their congressman is still their congressman.

Several conservative states apparently believe they have discovered the perfect lines. They may have won.

Or have they?

While everybody was staring at the political maps, California may have been looking at a much larger map—the one showing where the movie studios are going.

California, after all, is not some little roadside economy surviving on oranges, movie stars and photographs of the Hollywood sign. Its economy is larger than those of most countries. If California were an independent nation, recent economic figures would place it among the largest economies in the world.

It could probably afford its own army, navy and air force. With Hollywood involved, it could film the invasion, win an Academy Award for it and sell the streaming rights before lunch.

Yet many people continue to speak of California as though it contributes nothing useful to the country.

Nothing, that is, except the movies, television programs, technology, agricultural products and enormous amounts of money they would very much like California to bring into their states.

Georgia, Texas and other states have been offering film incentives to attract productions away from Hollywood. They see studio lights, camera crews and production money arriving, and they begin smiling from rear to rear, believing they have finally found the end of the rainbow.

“Bring us your movies!” they shout.

“Build your studios here!”

“Spend that California money in our restaurants, hotels and Hoot-and-Whistles!”

But they may not have thought the entire thing through.

Productions do not arrive by themselves. They bring actors, camera operators, costume designers, makeup artists, writers, carpenters, electricians and thousands of other workers. Some remain only long enough to finish a production and return home. Others may decide they like the lower cost of living, the warm weather or the fact that a person can still find a parking space.

Those who genuinely establish residency may eventually register to vote.

Sheriff Otis howls out “BLUE VOTERS, MAYNARD!”

You heard me (he barks.)

Liberals moving east from California.

^{_{Or as Otis refers to it, A very bad area to sniff. (It smells of cow and oil drums.)}}

The very states hoping to attract California’s entertainment industry could also attract Californians. Those newcomers might vote in school-board races, city-council elections and contests for governor, Congress and the Senate.

They will not necessarily vote alike, of course. Californians are not produced on a political assembly line, even if Hollywood probably owns the rights to one.

Still, imagine the irony.

Political leaders redraw districts hoping to protect their party, then approve enormous incentives that encourage thousands of workers from another state to move directly into those carefully constructed districts.

It would be the greatest political plot twist since television viewers learned that J.R. had been shot.

And who helped encourage the great migration of studios, corporations and media operations across the country?

The same political leaders who wanted California’s business without California’s influence.

They wanted the gold.

They just forgot that California is called the Golden State because Californians tend to arrive with it.

Perhaps California does not need to fight every redistricting map in court. Perhaps it merely needs to send a film crew.

Before long, every carefully drawn district could contain a casting director, three screenwriters, two sound engineers and somebody ordering an oat-milk latte at the Fill-Your-Buggy.

Conservative states may believe they are taking Hollywood away from California.

California may simply be franchising.

Morning Coffee — A Serious Cup, Then Something Lighter

September 18, 2026September 16, 2026Benjamin2 Comments

Today’s Morning Coffee begins a little differently. Before we turn to a more serious story about the Kennedy Center and America’s history, we’ll first share a few surprising facts, a little humor, and a reminder that coffee and conversations about the country have gone together for generations.

September 18,2026

Good Friday morning.

Normally, this would be where I pour the coffee, settle into the chair, and leave you with something simple to carry into the weekend.

Today is a little different.

Following this morning’s coffee, you will find a story that is considerably more serious. It concerns the Kennedy Center, the memory of President John F. Kennedy, and some of the larger questions I believe America is facing about history, institutions and what we choose to preserve for future generations.

I apologize for handing you something so heavy before you have finished your first cup.

But sometimes Morning Coffee is not only about making the morning easier. Sometimes it is about sitting together long enough to talk about something that matters.

So read the story that follows when you are ready.

Before we get there, however, I thought we should end the week with a few things that might make you say, “Well, I didn’t know that.”

Things You May Not Know

The Library of Congress receives roughly 15,000 items every working day and adds more than 10,000 of them to its collections. Somewhere in Washington, somebody apparently has a much larger “to be filed” pile than the rest of us.

The smallest book in the Library of Congress is called Old King Cole. It measures only about 1/25 of an inch by 1/25 of an inch—roughly the size of the period at the end of a sentence. Meanwhile, its largest book is approximately five feet by seven feet. That is less a book and more something you could use to replace a bedroom wall.

The Library also possesses written material dating to about 2040 B.C. and printed Buddhist texts dating to approximately 770 A.D. It is humbling to realize that human beings were already writing things down thousands of years before somebody invented the phrase, “I forgot my password.”

And since this is Morning Coffee, here is one especially appropriate bit of history.

James Smithson—the British scientist whose fortune eventually created the Smithsonian Institution—actually published his own method for making coffee in 1823. So apparently even the man behind the Smithsonian had opinions about how a proper cup should be made.

Coffee itself has a rather patriotic chapter in American history. After the Boston Tea Party, drinking coffee increasingly became associated with rejecting British tea, and colonial coffeehouses became important gathering places where politics, news and revolutionary ideas were discussed.

Which means that sitting around drinking coffee and talking about the condition of the country is hardly something we invented.

Americans have apparently been doing it for centuries.

So take another sip.

Enjoy your Friday.

And when you are ready, the next story is a little more serious.

Sometimes history asks us to remember.

Sometimes it asks us to pay attention.

And occasionally, it asks us to do both before the coffee gets cold.

Have a great Friday from benandsteve.com — and may your weekend begin with something good.

Regardless of what you are about to read.

Morning Coffee — A Fresh Cup, A Fresh Start

September 14, 2026September 12, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

Monday gives us something yesterday cannot—a fresh opportunity. We cannot rewrite what has already happened, but we can decide what happens next.

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026
September 14, 2026

There is something forgiving about Monday morning.

close up shot of a cup of coffee — _{^{Photo by hello aesthe on Pexels.com}}

It doesn’t always feel that way, of course. Monday has developed a reputation for being the day nobody particularly wants to see coming. The alarm seems louder, the bed feels more comfortable, and that first cup of coffee often carries considerably more responsibility than coffee should ever be expected to handle.

But perhaps Monday deserves another look.

Monday is another beginning.

Whatever went wrong last week has already happened. Whatever we didn’t finish is waiting for another attempt. The words we wish we had said differently cannot be pulled back, but the next words out of our mouths can be kinder.

Life gives us remarkably few opportunities to change yesterday.

It gives us countless opportunities to change today.

That is worth remembering as we sit with our coffee this morning.

Maybe you have been carrying something around that has become heavier than it needs to be. A disagreement. A disappointment. An unfinished task. Something you have been putting off because beginning it seems harder than continuing to avoid it.

Monday may be as good a day as any to set it down, straighten it out, or simply begin again.

You don’t have to repair your entire life before lunch.

Sometimes progress is nothing more dramatic than making the phone call, answering the message, washing the dishes, opening the curtains, or finally taking the first step toward something you have been thinking about for weeks.

Small beginnings still count.

We tend to celebrate the grand accomplishments because they are easy to see. But nearly every great accomplishment started somewhere very ordinary—with someone deciding, on an otherwise unremarkable morning, that today they would try.

Perhaps that is Monday’s real gift.

It arrives whether we are ready for it or not and quietly places another blank page in front of us.

So pour the coffee.

Take your time with the first few sips.

Then decide what deserves another chance today.

It might be a project.

It might be a relationship.

It might simply be you.

Whatever it is, remember this: starting over does not mean you failed.

Sometimes it simply means you learned enough from yesterday to approach today differently.

And that sounds like a pretty good reason to raise the coffee cup.

Have a wonderful Monday, and make something good out of the day in front of you.

Morning Coffee ––– What We Carry Into the Day

September 12, 2026September 9, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

Every morning gives us another opportunity to decide what we will carry into the day. We may not control everything that happens, but we can still choose kindness, patience and the small acts that make an ordinary day a little better.

September 12, 2026

There is something about the first cup of coffee that feels like a small beginning.

black and white text on black wall — _{^{Photo by James Frid on Pexels.com}}

The house may still be quiet. The day may not have completely decided what it intends to become. For a few minutes, there is only the warmth of the cup in our hands and the opportunity to decide what we are going to carry with us into the hours ahead.

And we do carry things.

We carry yesterday’s disappointments. We carry conversations we wish had gone differently. We carry worries about tomorrow, people we love, bills that need paying, decisions that need making, and questions for which we still have no answers.

But we also carry something else.

We carry kindness.

We carry the memory of someone who once helped us when they didn’t have to. We carry the laughter of people who have shared our table. We carry lessons taught to us by parents, grandparents, friends and sometimes complete strangers who crossed our path only briefly.

Perhaps one of the greatest choices we make every morning is deciding which of those things deserves the most room.

There will always be something to worry about. There will always be someone determined to spoil a perfectly good day. And there will always be circumstances beyond our control.

But we still get to decide what we contribute.

Wooden sign reading, "Be kind to the people around you, the life you save might be your own." — _{^{A wooden park sign shares a heartfelt reminder to treat others with kindness.}}

A kind word costs very little.

Holding a door takes only a moment.

Calling someone who has been on your mind might change their entire afternoon.

And sometimes simply listening to another person without trying to correct them, hurry them or outdo their story is one of the finest gifts we can give.

None of these things will make the evening news.

There won’t be a parade.

Nobody is likely to hand us a trophy for being decent to another human being.

But those small acts have a way of traveling farther than we ever realize.

So this morning, while the coffee is still warm, perhaps we can leave a little room in the day for something good.

We don’t have to change the whole world before lunchtime.

Changing one person’s moment might be enough.

And sometimes, without ever knowing it, that person may be us.

Have a great day from benandsteve.com — and may your coffee be warm, your worries be light, and the kindness you send into the world find its way back home.

Be kind to others, it is really the right thing to do.

There are mornings when the coffee tastes exactly the same as it did yesterday, but somehow the morning itself feels different.

September 10, 2026September 7, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

Some of life’s most meaningful moments do not announce themselves when they arrive. They are found in familiar voices, quiet mornings, ordinary routines, and the people beside us. Sometimes the moments we barely notice today become the memories we treasure most tomorrow.

September 10, 2026

Maybe it is the light coming through the window. Maybe it is a memory that wandered in before we were fully awake. Or maybe it is simply one of those days when we notice the little things we usually hurry past.

That first warm cup in our hands.

man hand over vintage photograph in book — ^{_{Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com}}

The familiar chair.

The quiet hum of the house.

A dog stretching somewhere nearby.

The sound of the world beginning another day.

We spend so much of our lives looking ahead that we sometimes forget how much of life is actually built from ordinary moments. The grand occasions certainly matter, but they are surprisingly few. Most of our lives are made up of thousands of small mornings, simple conversations, familiar faces, and routines we rarely think twice about.

Until one day we miss them.

That is when we discover that ordinary never really meant unimportant.

Some of the things I remember most clearly from years gone by would have seemed completely insignificant at the time. A voice from another room. Someone sitting at the kitchen table. A familiar laugh. A car pulling into the driveway. Someone saying, “Come on, let’s go.”

Nothing dramatic.

Nothing anyone would have thought needed preserving.

Yet somehow those are the moments that remain.

Maybe that is something worth remembering this morning.

There may be something happening around you today that feels completely ordinary. You may not photograph it. You may never write about it. You probably will not even recognize its importance while it is happening.

But someday, it may become one of the moments you would give almost anything to experience once more.

So enjoy your coffee.

light man coffee cup — _{^{Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com}}

Listen to the voices around you.

Notice the people who share your day.

And whenever possible, linger just a little longer.

Because while we are busy waiting for the memorable moments of life to arrive, some of them are already happening right in front of us.

Have a wonderful morning, and may your coffee be warm, your memories be kind, and your ordinary moments become something worth remembering.

— Morning Coffee
benandsteve.com

Morning Coffee ––– There are mornings when the coffee seems heavier than usual.

September 7, 2026September 5, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

We carry more into each morning than the coffee in our cup. Memories, worries, laughter, and yesterday’s unfinished thoughts often come along with us. But a new morning gives us another chance to decide what is worth carrying forward—and what might finally be time to leave behind.

September 7, 2026

vintage scale in kitchen setting with retro design — _{^{Photo by Alexander Popadin on Pexels.com}}

But sometimes what we bring with us to the table gives it a little more weight.

Not the cup, of course. The cup weighs exactly what it did yesterday.

We carry yesterday into the morning.

A conversation we wish had gone differently. A worry we never quite put down before going to bed. A name we have been thinking about. A memory that wandered in without knocking and decided to stay awhile.

Then there are the things we carry that feel a little lighter.

A laugh from yesterday.

Someone checking in just because they were thinking about us.

A dog stretched out nearby, perfectly content with life as long as breakfast eventually appears.

A familiar chair.

A quiet house.

And that first dependable cup of coffee.

Maybe mornings aren’t really about starting over. Life doesn’t erase itself while we sleep. The bills are still there. The problems haven’t packed their bags and moved out during the night. That stubborn thing we were worrying about yesterday may still be sitting right where we left it.

But morning does give us another chance to decide how much of it we are going to carry.

Some things need our attention.

Some things need our patience.

And some things probably need to be left sitting beside the road somewhere behind us.

We are not required to drag every disappointment we have ever known into every new day.

That may be one of life’s quieter lessons.

We can remember without remaining stuck.

We can care without carrying everything.

We can miss someone and still smile.

We can have difficult days and still believe there are good ones ahead.

So this morning, while the coffee is still warm, take inventory of what you brought to the table.

Keep the memories that make you smile.

Hold close the people who matter.

Take care of the things that truly need tending.

And perhaps leave a little room in your hands for something new.

coffee cup in hand for breakfast — _{^{Photo by Berna on Pexels.com}}

Because you never know what this day may be waiting to give you.

Sometimes all we need is enough room to receive it.

Have a great day from benandsteve.com — and may your coffee be warm, your burdens a little lighter, and your day give you something worth carrying into tomorrow.

Morning Coffee — And Then Tuesday Came…

August 25, 2026August 13, 2026Benjamin2 Comments

Sometimes the best thing a morning can bring is absolutely nothing extraordinary. An ordinary Tuesday, a familiar chair, a dog underfoot, and a warm cup of coffee can remind us that the everyday moments are often the ones holding our lives together.

Morning Coffee — August 25, 2026

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

August 25, 2026

There is something wonderfully dependable about an ordinary Tuesday.

elegant coffee mug with coffee beans on dark background — _{^{Photo by Nikhil Choudhary on Pexels.com}}

It doesn’t arrive with a marching band. There are usually no balloons tied to the mailbox, nobody sends you a card congratulating you for making it, and unless you’ve made special plans, Tuesday doesn’t expect very much from you.

It simply shows up.

And sometimes, that is exactly what we need.

This morning, the coffee pot doesn’t know where I’ve been. It doesn’t care how many miles I’ve traveled, what happened yesterday, or what might be waiting tomorrow.

Its job is remarkably simple.

Make coffee.

I appreciate that kind of dependability.

There are times in our lives when everything seems important. Every telephone call matters. Every appointment has to be remembered. Every mile has a destination, and every day on the calendar has something written beside it.

Then eventually, along comes an ordinary morning.

You wake up.

You shuffle toward the kitchen.

You put on the coffee.

Maybe the dog looks at you as though breakfast is already fifteen minutes late.

You look out the window and discover that the world managed to keep turning while you were asleep.

And suddenly the biggest decision facing you might be whether you want another cup.

Those ordinary mornings don’t receive enough credit.

We spend so much of our lives waiting for the big things—the vacation, the birthday, the reunion, the promotion, the holiday, the celebration—that we sometimes overlook the hundreds of perfectly ordinary days holding everything together.

But those are the days where most of life actually happens.

Tuesday morning coffee.

A familiar chair.

A dog underfoot.

Someone you love somewhere nearby.

A little sunlight coming through the window.

Nothing remarkable enough to make the evening news, but everything important enough to make a life.

Maybe that’s why I’ve grown to appreciate ordinary things so much.

They don’t demand anything from us.

They simply remind us that we’re still here.

There are chores to do today. There will probably be something that doesn’t go according to plan. Somebody somewhere will irritate us. Something will make us laugh. We’ll forget why we walked into a room at least once, and we’ll probably remember something important five minutes after we should have remembered it.

In other words, it should be a perfectly normal day.

And this morning, that sounds pretty good to me.

So here’s to Tuesday.

Here’s to the coffee pot doing exactly what it was designed to do.

Here’s to familiar faces, ordinary conversations, dogs who believe every day should revolve around them, and all those little moments we rarely recognize as blessings until someday we miss them.

You don’t need something extraordinary to happen today for today to matter.

Sometimes the ordinary day is the gift.

Pour yourself another cup.

Tuesday has arrived.

And that’s news enough for this morning.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

Morning Coffee —The Morning After

August 23, 2026August 12, 2026Benjamin2 Comments

The Coffee on The Morning Will Taste Different

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

The coffee is quieter this morning.

Yesterday, we buried my mother.

black and white photo of a man sitting at a table on a sidewalk — ^{_{Photo by Efe Ersoy on Pexels.com}}

After traveling hundreds of miles with us—from Arizona, through New Mexico and Texas, and finally into Oklahoma—we brought her to Binger.

Her last ride is over.

She rests beside my father now.

And this morning, life has done that peculiar thing it always does after a loss.

It continued.

The sun came up.

Someone started a car.

A dog needed attention.

Coffee had to be made.

The world didn’t stop simply because something monumental happened in mine.

Perhaps that is one of life’s quietest lessons.

We spend days preparing ourselves for the big moments—the service, the goodbye, the final prayer. But nobody prepares us quite as well for the morning afterward.

The morning when there is nowhere else we need to take them.

No arrangements left to make.

No more miles left to drive.

Just memories.

Yesterday, I stood in Oklahoma soil and helped return my mother to the place that had shaped so much of her life.

Today, I can begin carrying her differently.

Not in a special carrier.

Not buckled safely into the vehicle.

Not guarded faithfully by Otis.

I carry her in stories.

I carry her in the expressions I inherited without realizing it.

I carry her in memories of childhood, family gatherings, arguments, laughter, disappointments, forgiveness, and all those wonderfully complicated things that make a family a family.

Perhaps that’s what we eventually discover about saying goodbye.

The people we love don’t simply disappear down some road behind us.

They become part of the traveler.

And so this morning, I will have another cup of coffee.

Then Steve, Otis, and I will eventually point ourselves toward Arizona.

There will be an empty place in the vehicle where Mom rode with us.

But I don’t think she’s leaving Oklahoma alone.

A little bit of her will be going home with me.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

Morning Coffee — The Last Ride.

August 19, 2026August 12, 2026Benjamin1 Comment

There are times in ones life, when going home is all about visiting relatives. Then there are times when, going home is all about taking what is left of life back with you.

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

August 19, 2026

There are some journeys in life you know you will remember every mile of.

This morning, Steve and I are carrying my mother home. She will be going to see her daughter Twila.

Her name is Marjorie Bernice Groff, and after 95 years of living, loving, raising a family, making mistakes, making memories, and leaving pieces of herself in all of us, she is taking one final ride from Arizona to Oklahoma.

_{^{[Left to Right: Marjorie Bernice (McWhirter) Groff, with her parents G.W.(Bill) McWhirter, and Bernice Mae McWhirter}}]

And we’re not hurrying.

Her special carrier is safely buckled beside our trustworthy little traveling companion, Otis. He has been given an important assignment for this trip: protect Grandma.

I have no doubt he takes the responsibility seriously.

We will cross Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and finally enter Oklahoma. Along the way, when there is something worth seeing, we’ll make sure Mom gets to see it. An overlook, a beautiful stretch of country, an unusual roadside attraction—whatever catches our attention.

After all, when you’re taking your mother on her last road trip, there is no reason to rush.

Maybe that sounds a little unusual to some people. But grief has taught me that ceremony doesn’t always have to happen inside a church or beside a grave. Sometimes ceremony is simply two people, a little dog, an open highway, and someone precious riding beside you.

Tonight, we will reach Elk City, Oklahoma.

That seems especially fitting.

It was there, in 1982, that Steve and I first met. More than four decades later, the two of us will arrive there together carrying my mother home.

Life has a strange way of bringing roads back around to where they began.

So this morning’s coffee is going into a travel mug.

There are miles ahead of us.

Mom has one last Oklahoma sunset waiting for her.

And Otis has Grandma to protect.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

☕ Morning Coffee ––– You May Be Someone’s Good Memory

August 18, 2026August 12, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

There are probably people carrying a good memory of something you did long ago, even though you’ve forgotten all about it. This morning’s coffee is a reminder that the smallest kindness can become part of someone else’s story.

August 18, 2026

a cup of coffee with a smiley face drawn on it — ^{_{Photo by Ersan Yılmaz on Pexels.com}}

There are people from years ago whom I still remember for the smallest reasons.

They didn’t save my life.

They didn’t give me some great piece of wisdom.

They may not even remember me.

But I remember them.

I remember the person who took an extra moment to explain something when I didn’t understand.

The person who laughed with me when I needed to laugh.

The person who noticed I was having a difficult day and asked, “Are you doing okay?”

The person who poured another cup of coffee without being asked.

Funny, isn’t it?

We often think we have to do something extraordinary to make a difference in somebody’s life.

Most of the time, we don’t.

Sometimes we are remembered simply because we were kind when kindness was needed.

There are probably people walking around today carrying a memory of something you once did for them.

You may have forgotten it completely.

They haven’t.

Maybe you encouraged someone when they were ready to quit.

Maybe you sat beside somebody who didn’t want to be alone.

Maybe you made a child laugh.

Maybe you told someone they were doing a good job when nobody else bothered to notice.

To you, it may have been nothing more than an ordinary moment.

To them, it became part of their story.

That’s something worth thinking about over coffee this morning.

We spend a lot of time wondering what people think of us.

Perhaps a better question is:

How do people feel after they’ve been around us?

Do they leave feeling a little better?

A little more hopeful?

A little less alone?

Because long after people forget what we wore, what we owned, or how important we thought we were, they often remember how we treated them.

And someday, years from now, someone may be sitting at their own kitchen table with a cup of coffee remembering you.

Not because you did something remarkable.

But because, on an ordinary day when they needed it, you were kind.

Never underestimate the possibility that one small kindness from you may become someone else’s lifelong memory.

So today, give somebody something good to remember.

It doesn’t have to cost a thing.

A smile will do.

A kind word will do.

Taking a moment to listen will do.

Sometimes the smallest things stay with us the longest.

Now, how about another cup?

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

☕ Morning Coffee ––– Leave a Little Room for Something Good

August 17, 2026August 12, 2026Benjamin1 Comment

Don’t decide how the day will end before it has even begun. This morning’s coffee is a reminder to move yesterday’s worries over and leave a little room at the table for something good.

August 17, 2026

We sometimes wake up already expecting trouble.

guests at the restaurant tables — _{^{Photo by Joaquin Carfagna on Pexels.com}}

Before our feet touch the floor, we are thinking about yesterday’s problems, today’s responsibilities, and tomorrow’s worries.

Then we pour the coffee and carry all of them to the table with us.

That is quite a crowd for so early in the morning.

I wonder how many good things we miss because we have already decided what kind of day we are going to have.

We tell ourselves the meeting will be difficult.

The person won’t call.

The answer will be no.

Traffic will be terrible.

Something will probably go wrong.

And sometimes we’re right.

But not always.

Every now and then, life surprises us.

The telephone rings, and it is someone we have been thinking about.

A stranger holds the door and smiles.

Someone says something kind when we need to hear it most.

A problem we have worried about for days works itself out with surprisingly little trouble.

Or maybe nothing dramatic happens at all.

Maybe the sun simply comes through the kitchen window at just the right angle, the coffee tastes especially good, and for a few minutes everything feels all right with the world.

Those little moments count too.

We cannot control everything waiting for us today. There will always be things we would rather avoid and circumstances we cannot change.

But we can leave a little room for the possibility that something good might happen.

Hope doesn’t require us to pretend that difficulties don’t exist.

It simply asks us not to decide the ending before the day has had a chance to begin.

So while you’re sitting there with your coffee this morning, move yesterday’s worries over just a little bit.

You don’t have to throw them away.

Just don’t give them the whole table.

Save an empty chair for something unexpected.

Leave a little room for laughter.

Leave a little room for kindness.

Leave a little room for somebody to surprise you.

And most of all, leave a little room for something good.

Because this day hasn’t happened before.

You don’t know everything it is bringing with it.

Don’t let yesterday convince you that you already know how today will end.

Now take another sip.

Morning has only just arrived.

Let’s give it a chance.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

☕ Morning Coffee – Some Mornings Are Meant to Be Ordinary

August 16, 2026August 12, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

Not every morning needs to be extraordinary. Sometimes the quiet, ordinary moments—the warm coffee, familiar voices, and people nearby—are the ones we eventually miss the most. Come sit for a while. The coffee is ready…

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

August 16, 2026

Not every morning arrives carrying a lesson.

charming cafe conversation in scenic european town — _{^{Photo by Serge Hulne on Pexels.com}}

Sometimes morning is simply morning.

The coffee is brewing. The house is quiet. Somewhere outside, a bird is carrying on a conversation with another bird that apparently has a great deal to say.

And nothing particularly important is happening.

We have become so accustomed to looking for significance that we sometimes overlook the beauty of an ordinary day.

We celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, promotions, and all those other days we circle on the calendar. We take photographs. We gather people together. We remember them years later.

But when we look back on our lives, something interesting happens.

We begin missing the ordinary days too.

We remember sitting at the kitchen table while someone we loved stood at the counter.

We remember hearing their footsteps coming down the hallway.

We remember the sound of the screen door closing.

We remember someone asking, “Want another cup?”

At the time, none of it seemed important enough to remember.

Yet somehow we did.

Maybe that is because a life isn’t made mostly from extraordinary moments.

It is made from thousands upon thousands of ordinary ones.

The morning somebody handed you a cup of coffee.

The afternoon you sat on the porch doing absolutely nothing.

The evening everyone was home and nobody realized how precious that would someday become.

We didn’t know we were making memories.

We thought we were simply living.

Perhaps that is something worth remembering this morning.

You don’t have to accomplish something remarkable today for today to matter.

You don’t need a celebration.

You don’t need an announcement.

You don’t even need a particularly good story to tell when the day is finished.

Sometimes it is enough that the people you care about are nearby, the coffee is warm, and another morning has found its way to your door.

So don’t hurry through all of it.

Take an extra sip.

Listen to the sounds around you.

Notice who’s sitting across the table.

Someday you may discover that the mornings you once thought were ordinary were some of the most precious mornings you ever had.

The ordinary moments of today may become the treasured memories of tomorrow.

And that seems like a pretty good reason to pour another cup.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

☕ Morning Coffee ––– The Detour May Be the Better Road

August 15, 2026August 12, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

Not every road we travel is one we planned to take. Sometimes the detour introduces us to people, places, and possibilities we would have otherwise missed. Grab your coffee—we’re taking the scenic route this morning.

August 15, 2026

Most of us begin the day with some idea of how we expect it to go.

men sitting beside a brick wall having coffee — ^{_{Photo by Daniel Nouri on Pexels.com}}

We know where we need to be, what needs to get done, and perhaps even what time we hope to have everything finished.

Then life puts up a detour sign.

Something changes.

A telephone call comes. Someone needs us. The car won’t start. The appointment runs late. A plan we were counting on falls apart. Suddenly, the road we expected to travel is closed, and we are headed somewhere we never intended to go.

I have traveled enough country roads in my life to know that detours can be frustrating.

But I have also discovered something else about them.

Sometimes the road you didn’t intend to travel shows you something you would never have seen otherwise.

You notice an old farmhouse sitting beneath a grove of trees. You cross a creek you didn’t know existed. You find a little town you have never visited. Maybe you meet someone you would never have met had everything gone according to plan.

Life works much the same way.

Some of the people who become important to us arrive because something else didn’t work out. Some of our greatest opportunities begin with disappointment. Some of the stories we eventually treasure started on days when we thought everything was going wrong.

That doesn’t mean every detour is pleasant.

Some are difficult. Some hurt. Some take us a long way from where we thought we would be.

But getting somewhere differently doesn’t always mean we are lost.

So, as you have your coffee this morning, perhaps there is something in your life that hasn’t gone according to plan.

You may be staring at a detour sign right now, wondering why the road ahead had to change.

Give it a little time.

Keep going.

Look out the window along the way.

There may be something waiting on this road that you could never have found on the one you originally planned to travel.

Sometimes the unexpected road becomes the one that takes us exactly where we needed to go.

Pour yourself another cup.

We’ve still got some traveling to do.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

☕ Morning Coffee – Not Everything Needs to Be Finished Today

August 14, 2026August 12, 2026Benjamin3 Comments

We spend so much time trying to finish everything that we sometimes forget to appreciate simply moving forward. Grab your cup. This morning, one small step is enough.

August 14, 2026

There is something about morning that makes us believe we ought to have a plan.

people walking down a street with sun shining through trees — ^{_{Photo by Rendi iD on Pexels.com}}

We pour the coffee, look at the day ahead, and begin making a list in our minds. Things that need doing. People who need calling. Problems that need solving. Yesterday’s unfinished business somehow finds its way onto today’s kitchen table before we have even taken the first sip.

But maybe everything doesn’t need to be finished today.

Some things simply take time.

I think back to the way people once approached ordinary work. A garden wasn’t planted in the morning and harvested that afternoon. A fence was built one post at a time. A long trip was measured in miles traveled, not merely by how quickly you reached the destination.

There was an understanding that worthwhile things often required patience.

We sometimes forget that when it comes to ourselves.

We expect answers immediately. We want worries settled, grief healed, relationships repaired, and uncertainty resolved before bedtime. When that doesn’t happen, we can feel as though we somehow failed the day.

But perhaps today’s accomplishment is simply moving one step forward.

Maybe you make the telephone call.

Maybe you write the first paragraph.

Maybe you forgive a little.

Maybe you worry a little less.

Maybe you finally sit quietly for ten minutes with a cup of coffee and realize the world managed to keep turning without your supervision.

There will always be something left undone when evening comes. That isn’t failure. That is life reminding us there is another day waiting.

So this morning, don’t measure your day by everything you manage to finish.

Measure it by whether you moved something worthwhile a little farther down the road.

And if all you manage today is one small step, remember:

A small step forward is still farther than you were yesterday.

Pour yourself another cup.

Tomorrow will have its own list.

For now, this morning is enough.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

Excerpt

Not everything needs to be finished today. Some things simply take time. This morning’s coffee is a reminder that one small step forward can be enough.

☕ Morning Coffee ––– What If Today Is Enough?

August 13, 2026August 12, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

August 13, 2026

Good morning, my friends.

Pour yourself a cup of coffee and sit with me for a few minutes.

cup of coffee on plate — _{^{Photo by Oğuzhan Karataş on Pexels.com}}

We spend a lot of time thinking about what comes next. Tomorrow’s plans. Next week’s worries. The things we still need to accomplish and the places we hope someday to go.

But what if, just for this morning, today is enough?

What if the cup of coffee in your hand is enough to enjoy without thinking about the next one? What if the people around you are enough to appreciate without waiting for a special occasion to tell them so? What if this ordinary Wednesday deserves to be enjoyed simply because we are here to experience it?

Not every day needs to become a milestone.

Some days are meant to be lived quietly—watering the flowers, calling an old friend, laughing at something silly, watching the sun move across the room, or sitting for another five minutes with a cup of coffee that has probably already gone cold.

There is a lot of life tucked inside those little moments.

So don’t ask too much of today. Give it your best, appreciate what it offers, and let that be enough.

You don’t have to make today extraordinary. Just be present for it. Sometimes that is what makes a day extraordinary after all.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

☕ Morning Coffee – Before You Hurry Past It

August 12, 2026August 11, 2026BenjaminLeave a comment

August 12, 2026

Good morning, my friends.

fresh espresso flowing into white mug — ^{_{Photo by mehmetography on Pexels.com}}

Before the day gets busy, pour yourself a cup of coffee and stay here for just a moment.

We spend a surprising amount of our lives waiting for something. We wait for Friday, for vacation, for better weather, for the next celebration, or for the day when things finally settle down.

Meanwhile, life keeps happening.

It is happening in the coffee you’re holding. In the morning light coming through the window. In the familiar voice from the other room. In the dog waiting patiently for you to notice him. In the ordinary little routines we sometimes hurry through without realizing how precious they are.

Years from now, some of the things we barely notice today may be the very things we would give anything to experience once more.

So don’t rush through all of today trying to reach tomorrow.

Drink the coffee while it’s warm. Listen to the story you’ve heard a hundred times. Say “I love you.” Stay an extra minute when your heart tells you to stay.

There will always be somewhere else to go.

But there will never be another today.

Take a little time to notice your life while you’re living it. You may discover that an ordinary Tuesday was something pretty wonderful after all.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

☕ Morning Coffee

Before You Hurry Past It

Good morning, my friends.

Before the day gets busy, pour yourself a cup of coffee and stay here for just a moment.

We spend a surprising amount of our lives waiting for something. We wait for Friday, for vacation, for better weather, for the next celebration, or for the day when things finally settle down.

Meanwhile, life keeps happening.

Years from now, some of the things we barely notice today may be the very things we would give anything to experience once more.

So don’t rush through all of today trying to reach tomorrow.

Drink the coffee while it’s warm. Listen to the story you’ve heard a hundred times. Say “I love you.” Stay an extra minute when your heart tells you to stay.

There will always be somewhere else to go.

But there will never be another today.

Take a little time to notice your life while you’re living it. You may discover that an ordinary Tuesday was something pretty wonderful after all.

Until tomorrow, may your coffee stay warm, your memories stay close, and your hope stay strong. The coffee will be waiting again tomorrow, and I hope you’ll be here to share it with me.

— Benjamin Groff II
Morning Coffee at benandsteve.com

The Ordinary Things: Chapter Three, The Coffee Pot Knew Who Needed A Refill

July 31, 2026July 22, 2026Benjamin3 Comments

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

July 31, 2026

The Coffee Pot — Day Two

The Coffee Pot Knew Who Needed a Refill

The coffee pot didn’t know everyone’s name.

It didn’t need to.

**The coffee pot wonders if people realize how much love has been poured into ordinary moments.**

It knew them by the sound of their footsteps.

Some hurried into the kitchen before sunrise.

Others shuffled in a little slower.

A few stood quietly at the counter, staring out the window before pouring the first cup.

The coffee pot learned that everyone carried something.

Some carried excitement.

Some carried worry.

Some carried burdens no one else could see.

It noticed something over the years.

The people who poured the first cup were rarely looking for coffee alone.

Sometimes they were looking for courage.

Sometimes they were looking for hope.

Sometimes they simply wanted a few quiet minutes before the day asked too much of them.

The coffee pot never judged.

It simply kept the coffee warm.

There was always someone who watched another cup grow empty.

Without asking…

Without making a fuss…

They would reach for the pot and quietly pour a refill.

It wasn’t really about the coffee.

It was a small way of saying,

“I’m glad you’re here.”

No speeches.

No grand gestures.

Just a warm cup offered with kindness.

The coffee pot wonders if people realize how much love has been poured into ordinary moments.

Not the holidays.

Not the celebrations.

Just everyday mornings.

The ones no one photographs.

The ones that quietly become the memories we treasure most.

The coffee pot has learned something.

People may forget the brand of coffee.

They may forget the mugs they used.

But they never forget the person who noticed an empty cup… and filled it before they had to ask.

Closing Thought

Kindness doesn’t always arrive with great fanfare.

Sometimes…

It simply sounds like coffee being poured into an empty cup.

Look around your home. Every ordinary thing has a story. Sometimes, it’s really about us.

benandsteve.com

Truth Endures ~ ©Copyright 2026 Groff Media ~

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By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

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Morning Coffee — The Last Ride.

☕ Morning Coffee ––– The Detour May Be the Better Road

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Excerpt

☕ Morning Coffee ––– What If Today Is Enough?

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

☕ Morning Coffee – Before You Hurry Past It

☕ Morning Coffee

Before You Hurry Past It

The Ordinary Things: Chapter Three, The Coffee Pot Knew Who Needed A Refill

The Coffee Pot — Day Two

The Coffee Pot Knew Who Needed a Refill

Closing Thought

By the Time Hollywood Gets to Georgia – The GOP Will Be Crying…

Things You May Not Know

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By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

The Coffee on The Morning Will Taste DifferentBy Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

Excerpt

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026

☕ Morning Coffee

Before You Hurry Past It

The Coffee Pot — Day Two

The Coffee Pot Knew Who Needed a Refill

Closing Thought

The Coffee on The Morning Will Taste Different

By Benjamin Groff II GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026