There’s something about a cup of tea ~ February 23, 1995

David Heiller

I remember when we were kids, every day after school was out, one of my sisters would make a pot of tea and pour us each a cup.

Someone would put some cookies out; we’d sit around the kitchen table and talk about our day at school and slowly sip our cups of tea, with plenty of sugar to make them sweet, and savor them like a special treat.

No matter how chilly it was outside, or if we’d got into a fight that day, or lost our best friend to another, the tea made the bad parts go away.

Then later on at the supper table, Mom would make herself a cup and Grandma too, if she came down. Maybe it was the stronger kind, the kind that keeps you wide awake. She needed that, with all us kids.

But probably more she needed the calm that settles around you like a quilt, when you have a cup of tea nice and warm between your hands.

Malika enjoying a morning cup whilst her
 hair is fixed for the day.

Now we start the day with tea, every morning, my wife and I. Cindy’s is plain, but I put a lot of honey in mine so it’s nice and sweet, and savor it like a special treat.

And every night we make a cup of tea for the kids and bring it up to the kids in bed, sweetened with homemade honey from the hives out back.

It makes you want to read to them, or sit on the edge of the bed and talk about how chilly it is outside, or if they got into a fight that day, or lost their best friend to another.

Tonight my daughter, who is nine, made a cup for herself and me and added a plate of cookies too, six of them. She gave me one, and one to my son. She ate the rest.

That’s her reward for making tea I guess, though tea has its own rewards, like peace of mind, serenity, and patience and security.

It doesn’t have to be Christmas-time or with a great aunt you seldom see. A cup of tea brings everyday life into focus, and slows it down and lets it cool so you can enjoy it.

Yes, there’s something about a cup of tea that’s very comforting to me.