Grandma's Tea

After a long week of letting things reopen old wounds of “feeling like a failure” and “not begin good enough”, I decided to take a long hot tea bath.  A tea bath is soaking in your favorite tea added to your bath water.  I take the largest cloth tea bag I can find and fill it with Lavender Tea.  Then I tie it to the water facet as the tub fills.  My sister-in-law, Dianna, used to tease me and say, “Don’t drink the bath water!” when she saw me preparing my bath tea bag.  Sometimes I will add rose petals and peppermint tea, but this time I just wanted to smell the lavender and soak up its goodness.  BTW – I really love to drink tea…well iced tea.  Here is a great site for “Bath Tea” recipes:  http://diybathrecipes.com/list.php?pagenum=0&catid=6
As the tub filled with water, I started to read Barbara O’Neal’s new book, How to Bake a Happy Life.  The main character, Ramona, owns a bakery which was her grandmother’s house.  In the beginning of the novel, Ramona retreats to her grandmother’s garden and is surrounded by her memory.

p. 14 – Bending my head, I let my tears fall.  Here in this safe place, my grandmother’s garden, I can weep freely.  It often feels that my grandmother, Adelaide, is with me here in the enclave she created.  Sometimes I imagine I can hear her softly humming a nameless tune.

This passage struck a deep emotion in my heart.  I know how this character feels.  Often I have run to my grandmother’s grave to let my tears fall.  In recent years, I have remembered her words, her cooking, and her Alusema (Spanish for Lavender) tea.  My grandmother used to also hum to the radio sometimes in her kitchen.  It seems that this weekend, I have been surrounded by my Grandmother’s care.  A way of nursing a sour soul wound.  My mom had made her “Soupa” and left it in our fridge for the weekend.  (RECIPE: Olivares Soupa, FEB 2010).  It has been our warm satisfying treat each day.

The lavender tea, the Soupa, and this passage have reminded me of what is important and lavished my wounds in memory balm and mended the frayed fabric of my peaceful thoughts.  The old adage of, “does this really matter in the big picture” or my other favorite “will this be remembered by your family and friends when you die”.  The answer is NO.  Not all the data crunching, curriculum transforming, or creative teaching is going to change the fact that my family needs me…needs me to be whole.  I want to serve their dinner with peace on my face not the stress overly served to me that day.  Just like my Grandmother did. When she served the food and we all sat down to eat, we were to have our focus on eating with no interruptions which included answering the phone.  She enjoyed her food despite whatever was going on.  That is my focus as this new week begins with all the old and new assaults upon my self-confidence, to have peace while I prepare our supper and sit and eat well with my family.  Maybe I will make some lavender tea and let the scent invite my grandmother’s spirit to surround us with peace.

Here is a wonderful book I found at our local library book sale about how grandmother’s and the food they make influence our lives.  It is a beautiful book and I hope you take the time to read it.

At Grandmother’s Table:  Women Write about Food, Life, and the Enduring Bond between Grandmothers and Grandaughters, Edited by Ellen Perry Berkeley.  ISBN: 1-57749-096-7