Mormons and my Mom are Very Offended

Kraft Foods has stopped production of Postum as of this past January. I am displeased. You may be asking yourself "But Kat C, why in the world do you care?" but I have a my reasons.

First off, my Gamma used to drink it every night. I'm pretty sure she got hooked during the early 1940's when war conditions made people turn to coffee substitutes, and she was doing her bit in a country full of tough times.

This sentimental memory likely made it easier for my own Mom to pick it up instead of coffee every morning as one of the many changes she has made to improve her life. Although that seems like a small thing, taken in addition to all of her other efforts that have added up to a happier, healthier Mom, it means a lot. Over the past year, the difference has been evident in good times and bad, from taking on an unexpectedly giant Christmas dinner guest list with grace and good humour, to rolling with the regular drama of my brother with reasonable concern, versus the anxiety and despair of the past. Not all of this is due to a mug of tasty toasted grain, but it's the principle of the thing.

As for me, I've spent the last month slowly giving up my own morning coffee habit. Lucky and I are making pre-baby preparations with diligence befitting our combined aptitude for paranoid internet research and need for control, so we are dedicated to grooming the (hopefully) fertile plains of my womb to meet the most stringent standards of things that could possibly, maybe, perhaps affect a baby's development. Considering the fact that we can do nothing to cut out my daily meds, (well, we could, but the alternative is not attractive) we are set to make all the other concessions we can, to buy ourselves as much peace as possible while visions of potential complications dance through our heads. To that end, I was set to give postum a try. The upcoming unavailability is hardly tragic, as I will surely find some other fix for my hot, morning needs (I wish I meant something dirtier by that) but I guess I am a bit put off by the end to three generations worth of making a choice for the sake of something bigger.

I'm not one of those crazies who is going to suggest that Kraft is HORRIBLE for putting PROFITS above the needs of a very, very, very small population, as if they are a BUSINESS or something, but I do wish they'd put a bit more into marketing and availability. Heck, if William Shatner can be signed on to advertise an aid for digestive regularity, surely they could have scooped Mr. T or something to make this happen.

So, it's not the end of the world, but it is the end of an era. As a temporary fix, Mom has bought Superstore out of their remaining stock, prompting the cashier to think that she's got either a really weird fetish or a really sad social life, and causing my Dad to send me some very dirty looks for encouraging her food-hording habits. What can I say? It's hereditary.