I like crossword puzzles. I just love challenging myself to filling in those little white squares. And, yes, I often have a cup of coffee while doing one.

I was introduced to these brain challenges at an early age by my father. He was a crossword junkie. If there was a puzzle within a paper, he’d be on it like gravy on mom’s mashed potatoes. It was how he started his day pretty much every weekend and on weekdays once he retired. I can still see him in my mind at the table with his morning cup of coffee and the newspaper opened to the crossword puzzle. (I can also still see him with paper and pen in hand on his way to the “throne room”.)

Unlike me, the more difficult the puzzle, the happier he’d be. As a kid, the easy clues would be thrown my way and later, the harder ones. It was a game I loved to play. When I didn’t know the word, mom would find an excuse to leave the vicinity so he wouldn’t throw them her way. She didn’t play this game. Anyway, my dad started me on this path and after all these years, I’m still on it.