Evening Tea...a story I wrote in 1998

My sister called to ask if it was all right if she and my two-year-old niece stopped by for a few minutes. I looked forward to their visit, even though my entertaining skills don’t leave much to offer. I didn’t even have anything good to eat in the house, because I had recently decided to become a vegetarian and even more recently, gave up eating goodies, but that’s another story.

My niece Christine is usually a sweet little girl. Though, she does have her moments. This particular night, she was being her sweet self. Since she doesn’t visit often, when she does come, she acts as if it’s a real treat for her. She especially enjoys playing with my two cats and dog.

This particular night, since it was cold outside, I’d decided to make some tea. It was definitely the right chose. Christine loved being one of the “big” girls and having a tea party. I was a little hesitant at first, but I decided to let her drink from one of my favorite mugs. It’s in the shape of a cat with the tail being the handle. It had been a present from friends at my surprise 30th birthday party several years before, so it was very special to me.

Although I can’t imagine that the tea, which had been watered-down with ice cubes, tasted good, she continued to play the part of the gracious guest by saying that it was “dewicious.”

As I said, I didn’t have any goodies in the house, but something told me to offer Christine some graham cracker-shaped cereal. She gobbled them up. She also daintily dipped them in her tea, while saying “dunk, dunk, dunk.”

She was so delighted with our little tea party, that it made me enjoy our time together even more. It’s nice to be reminded that sometimes the simplest things can bring you the most pleasure.

UPDATE: Does this answer your questions?...