Tea With My Mother.

I felt under the weather yesterday. Maybe it was because I hadn't been out of the house in a couple of days and my body went into shock at being exposed to the wintry outdoor elements. Or maybe it was because I (uncharacteristically) didn't eat much all day and my blood sugar was low, resulting in drowsiness, severe headache and moderate, uh, intestinal distress. I'll save you by not elaborating on that last one.

At any rate, I'd passed out for most of the afternoon/evening, so at midnight I found myself half-stumbling upstairs to a dimly-lit kitchen. Surprisingly, my mom was wiping down the counter-tops. She usually goes to bed pretty early so I didn't expect to see her up and about. I was still feeling a little queasy, so I heated up some sinigang broth in a large mug and slid onto a stool, sipping slowly as she put away the wipes.

"You should try some green tea," she remarked, opening the pantry door. "It'll help settle your stomach. I'm going to have some myself." She emerged with a small box of tea bags and deftly brewed a small cup. After a few minutes, I finished my broth (so so good on a cold night), refilled my mug with hot water, and steeped my own.

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It was a nice feeling to just sit, take in the aroma of the tea and hang out for a while as the rest of the house slept. Moments like these are few and fleeting, with two kids running around the majority of the day leaving happy chaos in their footprints. My mom seemed at ease despite the long day, holding her cup in both hands, elbows resting on the counter. In between sips, she extolled the virtues of tea-drinking, from its aforementioned ability to calm stomachs, to reducing eye puffiness, boosting the immune system, suppressing illness and even preventing cancer. I knew about all this; she'd been trying to convert me into a tea drinker for some time even though I'm a devout member of the Religion of Coffee. But it was soothing. Soothing to hear her talk about something as mundane as tea as I swirled the bag slowly around and around, steam rising from my mug.

It was probably a combination of the broth, tea and easy conversation -- I felt ten times better. We finished drinking, put our cups in the dishwasher and hugged each other goodnight. I went to bed with a calm stomach and a buoyant feeling in my soul.

So I've decided that one of my resolutions this year will be to drink more tea, at least one daily cup. At the very least, that might slow my coffee consumption. I doubt it'll get me to switch completely at this point; I love the taste of coffee too much. But no, I can't deny the health benefits of tea.

I'm pretty sure it's good for my spirit too.