I have three teacups...

“I have three teacups,” a friend told me after church today, “and each one has a story.”  Yes, I’m sure they do, I thought and I asked her to share them with me.  Seems that’s often the way it is with tea things, they have stories infused into them much like the delicate teas they hold, and those stories grow dearer with each passing year.
Tea has been called the cup of humanity and with good reason.  It brings people together, it warms you inside and out, lifts spirits, cures what ails you and plenty more besides. Tea is good company when you find yourself alone yet it is the perfect beverage to serve to a crowd.  You just cannot go wrong when you decide to put the kettle on.

So why such veneration for tea?  Well, I think it goes back to my friend’s comment. It’s the stories connected to the cups. When pulling out the delicate white and gold fleur-de-lis teacup Daddy gave to Mum as an anniversary gift over 40 years ago, I think of them both. He is gone now but handling that cup brings him to mind and into my heart. 

I smile as I choose a white porcelain cup hand-painted with vibrant blue morning glories  that my husband brought back from an over seas deployment when we were first married.  Those separations were lonesome times for me and that cup holds those bittersweet yet beautiful memories. 

My hand is extremely gentle as I reach for the seemingly eggshell thin lusterware cup in muted shades of steely blue, white and grey which beautiful Barefoot Girl gave me as a birthday gift last year.  I use that one a lot, despite its fragility, because I love it and I love her and it feels so good in the palm of my hand. 

Yes, I too can say, I have three teacups and each one has a story.  As your eye rests on a tea item in your china cabinet, what story does it have to share?  Put the kettle on and tell me all about it!