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<\/p>\nThe accomplished hostess knows this fundamental truth of entertaining:\u00a0 Good parties tend to grow.<\/p>\n
A little gathering at my place on a recent weekend morning started with just two guests, with my granddaughter Sis as hostess and me hovering in attendance nearby as kitchen staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvie, can we get out the tea set?\u201d she had asked, beaming a little jolt of joy into my weary heart that morning.\u00a0 The tea set is a relic from my parents\u2019 time at the American naval base in the Philippine Islands in the 1950s, an acquisition on a side trip to Hong Kong in those very different post-war times.<\/p>\n
My granddaughter was a newborn when my mother downsized to smaller quarters and so many treasures went on to new destinations.\u00a0 I took the lovely teapot with its enchanting curved spout and the wafer-thin, gold-flowered cups and plates and stuck them in a drawer, wondering if they might appeal to her on some future lazy afternoon.\u00a0 On a recent day when we needed, shall we say, to redirect her focus, I had unwrapped them and conveyed them as hers, to remain for now in my care. \u201cWe\u2019ll get them out soon and have a real tea party,\u201d I offered, unsure if she even knew what that was.<\/p>\n
That day was here.<\/p>\n
As I reached for the location at the no-kids elevation where I stored the 60-year-old china, she installed the first two guests in their places at the coffee table, on a little bench and in a child\u2019s rocker.\u00a0 The long, slender stuffed monkey displayed manners questionable for a tea party, his long arms flung behind him wildly as if on a bender, but I let it go.\u00a0 The raggedy, worn lop-eared bunny who faced him across the table displayed a rather detached expression for a party guest, but I let that go, too.<\/p>\n
Shall I make some real tea?\u00a0I offered, having saved a caffeine-free variety with a hint of cocoa in it for the children, and she answered, \u201cOh, yes, everyone wants tea.\u201d\u00a0 I snapped to it in the kitchen, digging out a few of my grandmother\u2019s shiny sterling teaspoons to add to the place settings.\u00a0 As I worked, more guests arrived. Next came a blue Kentucky Wildcat beanbag, who was never constructed for sitting up, a dark brown squirrel who held his ground rather nicely, another bear, and finally, a striped fish relic of a long-ago Disney movie.\u00a0 Fish needed an extra pillow to swim level with his teacup.\u00a0 Meanwhile, the real dog patrolled the perimeter nervously, certain this unauthorized activity required careful monitoring and watching me for instructions.<\/p>\n
I held my breath as Sis, at her request, carefully poured the hot brew for each guest into the tiny cups.\u00a0Not a drop spilled, reminding me again how trust fosters growth.\u00a0 With more focus on the spirit of the occasion than prudent nutritional practices for six-year-olds, I inquired if the guests preferred honey or sugar for their tea.\u00a0 What a rookie mistake; Sis is never one to pass up promising options.\u00a0 \u201cThey might want both,\u201d she answered. I paused briefly over my error, then decided, why stop now?<\/p>\n
Older Brother Buddy disdained this little charade at first, but as tea was poured and the gathering grew, he could not bear the sidelines.\u00a0 He came forward with a tiny rubber creature of undetermined species (possibly a video game character?) that was liberated from its small plastic case in time to claim a seat at the table.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s too small to drink from a cup,\u201d Buddy worried about his little pal, about 1.5 inches long. \u00a0Could he drink from a spoon? I asked.\u00a0 This was satisfactory, and soon the miniature creature was perched on a placemat in front of a silver spoon containing just a few drops of the amber liquid. The hostess and her brother sipped over-sweetened tea from different cups and spoons on their guests\u2019 behalf, chatted sociably, and soon the little event wound to a conclusion.<\/p>\n
My 89-year-old mother loves knowing when others enjoy her vintage things, so it was fun to tell her the tea-party story soon after.\u00a0 I shared photos showing the table set with her china, amusing her great-grandchildren more than half a century after she first acquired the tiny, gold-trimmed little pieces.\u00a0She shook her head, amazed.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t know little girls still cared about those things,\u201d she said, a bit wistfully.\u00a0 Within a few short days, there would be no immediate chances to reminisce with Mom over family photos, as her residence was closed indefinitely to visitors while pandemic rages on.<\/p>\n
With such abrupt swiftness, our world has spun into a dark and unpredictable alternative reality in recent weeks.\u00a0 Everyone seems frightened and unbearably stressed.\u00a0 With each new dawn, the news continues to worsen, and on some days, hope may elude us.<\/p>\n
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