Monday, September 07, 2009

The first sip is the best

I learned to drink tea with my grandmother. I like it now the same way as when I was a kid - mostly milk and plenty sweet. Tea smells especially delicious, I think, if you're used to drinking coffee.

A cup of tea shared with grandma was a recipe for happiness, as I remember it. All I need now is that first sip to be carried back to her small kitchen; the clink of spoon against saucer recalling my grandpa in the next room, the parlor, listening to a ballgame on the radio.

I don't think my grandmother and I ever did anything especially memorable together, but I remember drinking tea and feeling very loved. Her memory is a joy and one that usually surfaces as a surprise. A cup of tea is the only way I know to will it.

11 comments:

R.Powers said...

Green tea always makes me nostalgic for a pseudograndma I had as a kid.
Mrs. Ferris was my baby sitter during my preschool days, but I messed up her name and called her FiFi, so everybody else did too!
She loved green tea and when she had a cup she would make me some also.
I still love it.

KGMom said...

Amazing how a wonderful scent can bring a memory rushing back. I would bet that is what makes you think of your grandma--the smell of the tea in the cup.

Susan Gets Native said...

For me, it's apple pie. Homemade with extra cinnamon. That's my grandmother.


And you changed your profile pic (finally!).
I like!

RG said...

My Grandmother was not very nice - she could not cook for beans! But - sitting on the back porch with Grandpa - listening to the Detroit Tigers baseball ... aaaaahhh

PS - that looks like BL's tea ... mostly other stuff!

Beth said...

My dad always had tea at nite, but he adds a teaspoon of strawberry jam. Surprisingly good.

Beth

Ruth said...

Hot tea with milk is the high point of my day. But is it ever hard to get a good cup of hot tea in the USA! I tried to order one in Starbucks in NYC last year and you would have thought I had 2 heads. I usually always travel with my own little kettle and tea bags. Glad to know the tradition was passed on by your grandma.

Anonymous said...

Chicken and dumplings take me home. Strange isn't it?

ReluctantChickenFarmer said...

I remember that too. But it was always called a "nice" cup of tea. Also the smell of grandpa's pipe. Something about tea that settles your stomach. Coffee doesn't do that.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful memory. I have so many good memories connected with tea. Both my parents who have both passed from this world were avid tea drinkers...Thursday afternoon tea with the mom of my best friend...morning tea with my wife who I met whilst living in England.

Anonymous said...

My father's parents were also tea-drinkers, although I've always drunk it black, with sugar.

that oh-so-familiar sound of the spoon hitting the side of the teacup...yes, i can relate to that.

makes me miss my grandparents.

dguzman said...

My grandma on my mom's side always made us coffee with a ton of milk and sugar. Made us feel so grown up!