The Comfort of Tea and Friendship, A Short Story

I recently wrote a short story that I would like to share today.

The Colonial Inn was one of Heather's favorite places to visit.  She was meeting an old friend there today, and she could hardly wait to see her.  She walked into the teahouse and passed by all the lovely treasures in their gift shop.  As she walked into the main dining room, she was pleased that they had reserved the table next to the fireplace.  A fire was lit warming the room.

Heather glanced at Lynn who was already seated at the table.  She had her head down reading the menu as Heather approached.  As she got closer to the table, Lynn looked up, and the familiar lock of gray hair fell over Lynn's beautiful piercing blue eyes.

Heather smiled, she was just as she had remembered her.  Lynn smiled back with such warmth, and got up to greet her.  Lynn gave Heather a big hug and a kiss and they both sat down.  Heather poured herself a cup of tea from the china pot that was already sitting on their table.  She looked into the teacup and wondered what lie in store for both of them for their future.

When Heather had married many years before, Lynn had given her this amazing teacup as a gift.  It was an Antique one and on the inside of the cup was an Asian design of mountains.  Lynn had told Heather that when she had found it, she knew it was for her.

Yet, when she had first gotten it home, it had cracked, while she was rinsing it off.  She had glued it back together and her daughter had laughed at her, telling her that you shouldn't give a damaged teacup as a gift.  Somehow she knew that this teacup held a special meaning for Heather.

Heather hadn't minded that it had been broken, because they shared the love of Antiques, and she thought that the wisdom in Lynn's beautiful eyes might hold a special intuition.  Five years later Heather would be boarding a plane for Asia, where she would spend many years with her family.   Her special teacup would sit on a server in her new home, as a reminder of that intuition.

Today Heather remembered the sweetness that she had once known back then.  Lynn's husband had just  passed away, after suffering with Alzheimer's Disease for many years.  Heather's husband had Early on-set Alzheimer's Disease and she longed for those days from long ago.  Such a bittersweet reunion, but perhaps they could sit and sip their tea and for just a short while walk through memories of a sweeter time.

That crack in the teacup might just have connected them in an even more profound way than they had ever suspected.  It was the crack in the fiber of their marriages that reunited them now.  They would find comfort and shelter from the pain of such a dreadful disease, even if only for a brief time together.

She knew that they had so much catching up to do, and so much to discuss.  She lifted her teacup and said to Lynn, "Let's begin with a toast, let's toast to the comforts of tea and friendship, because this has remained the same after all these years."