Mom's are like tea: Necessary every dang day!

Woman are like tea bags and Moms are like tea!

Elanor Roosevelt once said, "A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water".

Not quite as famous - but perhaps just as profound - is a sentiment from a humble greeting card that also compares special women to tea:  "Mom's are like tea -   necessary every damn day."

Although the original card listed "coffee", my eldest son, Rob, made a swift edit, and replaced the java reference with his mother's favorite hot beverage.

Like tea, chocolate, flowers and family fun - every damn day!

I believe both aphorisms and though Eleanor Roosevelt's quote applies to all woman, I think our pithy greeting card casts a wider net as well.  "Moms" can be our mothers, grandmother, godmothers, or ladies who have come into one's life that also offer support, advice and love.

"Afternoon Tee" time with family earlier this year.

As I noted in a blog story first published in May of 2016, (Happy Mother's Day:  Make it one for the books). I was fortunate to have not only a wonderful mom, but I have the great fortune to be mom to three wonderful children (and, now, mother-in-law to two more!). 

Me & my Mom, ready to go anywhere if scheduled.

As for my own mom, she  and I were very close and enjoyed each other's company, although we differed in so many respects. My mom was a neat freak, with a schedule that was never departed from, even if something fun came along. I keep a clean enough house, but if you want to invite me for tea or shopping, I'll cancel the utensil drawer reorganization in a New York minute.

And though she's been gone for over twenty-five years, I still think of her daily (or, in the lingo of my greeting card, "every damn day" 😊) There are so many times, I wish I could call my mom and say, "you were right!", or, even at my advanced senior-discount-age , I'd desperately ask, "what should I do now?", because she would always know.

Mother's Day Brunch followed by an afternoon of games!

This Mother's Day, I received the "tea card", flowers, an Earl Grey baseball cap and two boxes of chocolate. I was feted with a brunch followed by an afternoon of family game time and Zoom with our favorite New Yorkers.  It was wonderful.

Go ahead - make my Earl Grey extra strong!

I have my own edits to my Mother's Day card:  Moms are like Earl Grey tea, chocolate, flowers, and family time - necessary every damn day.

And, as a card-carrying AARP member and a mom of over forty years, I'm very familiar with "hot water events".  So go ahead - make my Earl Grey extra strong!