Mother-Daughter Teas

It is the time of year we used to go to the Mother-Daughter Tea at Fairview Church. That may be what Kari & I were dressed up for in this May '87 picture of us at our Normandy Terrace apartment in West Des Moines. More likely it was for something in conjunction with her high school graduation that year. But we have put on our hats for teas over the years.

One of the Fairview Teas I remember was the one twenty-one years ago. Alyssa was only six weeks old. It was very special because we had five generations in attendance that day - Great-great Grandma Delphia Ridnour, Great-Grandma Ruth Lynam, Grandma Ramona Lynam, Mother, Shelly Botkin and little Aly. If we didn't win a prize, we should have.

The programs for the afternoon teas always included some songs, some special readings or poems about mothers and the gifting of some posies. If you were the oldest mother, youngest mom, came the farthest, had the most children, had the most grandchildren, been married the longest, etc., you might win a pot of geraniums or petunias. When Grandma Ridnour won several years in a row for having the most grandchildren, they had to come up with some new ways to pick winners. After the program everyone adjourned to the basement for mints, nuts, punch or coffee and cookies. No tea, though. Imagine that.

Another Fairview tea that stands out in my memory was the one in 1996. The weather was very much like today - cold, wet, windy. We had just gotten our '83 Dodge Ram pickup. There was an auction in Brooks that I went to even though I knew I could only stay for an hour or so because I had to get home in time to go to the tea.

On the way home I had a flat tire on the pickup. Changing a tire was no biggie for me; I had done that many times. But I'd never changed one on a pickup before! Nor had I ever used an axle jack. I couldn't get the pickup high enough to get the tire off. Nothing I tried would work. No cell phones in those days and of all the times I needed another car to come along, none did. I had stayed at the auction as long as possible, so a flat tire I couldn't change was the last thing I needed.

There was nothing to do but keep trying and somehow I finally got the tire changed. (Naturally, someone came along just as I was tightening the lug nuts and stopped to see if I needed help.) I hurried home, told Mom & the neighbor to go ahead without me so they would be on time, then rushed around to clean up and change clothes.

That may be why I left Aileen (my dove) in the outside cage that afternoon. That is the day one of Mom's cats killed her. (Aug 20, 2009 blog - "The Light of the Sun")

Thymes Remembered in Perry has become our favourite place for mother-daughter teas. I don't know if we are going to have time to go there this year. One thing for sure we are going to do is use the Royal Tara teapot I received from Ron & Ruthie for my 50th birthday. It will be the first time I've used it. We may not put hats on, but we will have our very own mother-daughter tea.