Tea and Toast
Tea and toast. It was my favorite part of being sick as a kid–if you didn’t count not having to go to school.
When I was sick, my mom would make me hot tea with sugar and milk and a couple pieces of buttered toast and let me lay on the couch while she went about her day.
I still do that for myself sometimes when I don’t feel so good.
She’d sit next to me on the edge of the couch now and then to check my forehead for a fever, sometimes stroking my hair as moms are known to do.
I remember drifting in and out of sleep to the sound of my mom doing the dishes, taking care of the younger siblings who weren’t in school yet, the wash machine running in the basement.
Then later, the older kids coming home from school, getting a snack, doing homework at the dining room table.
The sounds of normal life were just outside my reach; background music to the twilight I was in.
So comforting.
I remember when my mom was in the hospice wing of the hospital, me being there at her bedside. She was heavily medicated and as I sat there next to her, I started drifting in and out of sleep.
In that twilight I could hear the sounds of the staff up and down the hall going about their day.
Background music to the twilight we were in–mom and I.
I in the twilight of sleep during a long, hard journey; she in the twilight of her life here.
I thought about the times she was at my bedside–or couch-side as it were–and comforted me with tea and toast and a loving hand or a cool washcloth on my forehead. I hoped I was doing the same for her–bringing her some measure of comfort.
Little acts of kindness. Giving someone comfort. Holding someone as they cry. Listening. These seem like little things but they’re really the big things.
Tea and toast.
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Comfort may seem like a small act as you said, but the memory of that comfort remains decades later. Here’s to Mema for all the love and comfort she gave us growing up, and on into our adulthood!
Here, here! To Mema! ❤
I love this. I had a little bell to ring if Mama was elsewhere in the house and I needed her when I was sick. I have that bell in a display case today. This really brought up vivid memories for me as a child when I got sick and comforting my mama on the day she passed away. It was sprite and soda crackers for us. Thank you for sharing and invoking a wonderful memory for me. My mother was the hot tea drinker daily with sugar but no milk. Love you girl.
I hope it brought a smile to your face! Wasn’t it an honor to be able to comfort our mothers after they had taken such good care of us? I love you too my friend! ❤
I smiled immediately when I saw your tea cup which was mama’s favorite drink. Her very best friend was my piano teach, Ms. Ruth Collins who was from Australia, a WW II war bride. Of course Australians drink hot tea by the gallons and she used milk in hers like you do. She was surprised to find an American like my mama who loved hot tea as much as she did. They got together several mornings a week around each others kitchen tables just to talk, drink hot tea, share some sweet treats, share a laugh and just be friends for a shared moment in time every week. I saw this my entire growing up life. Oh yes indeed my friend. It was an honor and one of the many blessings in my life to be there when my mother took her last breath. She brought life to me as I entered this world and took great care and comforted me during the sick times. It was an amazing experience and a real blessing to be there in the end and comfort my mother as her soul went to be with Jesus in heaven. What a privilege and honor indeed my friend.
I wish I’d have met your mom! I think she’s an amazing woman and a really sweet person. And she likes tea!