The Perfect Blend

To truly get in on all the inner workings of Toad Valley, you need to make a stop out to the clubhouse any week day at 8:00 a.m. when the Brady girls have their ritual coffee break. It all started back in 1973 when we opened our doors as a means for the ladies of the family to check in with one another. Even when I was a young girl, I can remember coming over for the 8:00 a.m. coffee break with a container filled with scrambled eggs that I would eat with my grandpa while the girls visited about their day.

That ritual has continued for almost 40 years. My mom and Aunt Nancy would put me and my cousins on the bus for school and head over to the golf course to start their day promptly at 8:00 a.m.  It has helped to form a strong family bond turning sisters-in-law to best friends.

My grandma, Audrey Brady, will turn 98 next month and she attributes her good health to the morning coffee break. She always says, “It gives her a reason to get out of bed.”

I caught up with the Brady girls one morning.  Mom, Grandma and Aunt Nancy have been sipping coffee for years. Grandma no longer drinks coffee, so she just comes to hear what her grandkids, great-grandkids and great-great grandkids are up to these days.

Once my sister-in-law, Theresa, came on the scene nine years ago, she has become a staple to the morning coffee club.

These ladies can be heard laughing and sharing stories about their days for about thirty minutes every morning. Running a family business requires a strong foundation. At the end of the day, we always know that we’re family and that always comes first. Coffee breaks help to form that strong foundation.

If you want to know this lady’s secret to living nearly 98 years, she’ll tell you that it takes the good Lord, family coffee breaks and water aerobics, in that order. I’ll throw in a cheery attitude as my grandma is one of the happiest people you will ever meet!

Once the coffee break comes to an end, my Aunt Nancy takes Grandma to water aerobics and everyone’s day begins. It’s definitely going to be a good day with a morning full of love from your family and often times, a few friends stop in to join the Brady girls.

How about you? Do you think you’ll be going to water aerobics when you’re 98 years old?