tea party

teacups, originally uploaded by sheelajoy.

My mother and her friend Mary meet with a group of elderly ladies every Tuesday for fellowship, tea and prayer. The youngest of the group (not including Mary or my mother) is in her 70's and the oldest is 93. About half of the group are Christians, all suffer from poor health and limited mobility, and very much enjoy this time.

For the last few summers, she has had the group over for a tea party, and I've been delighted to join in. Due to ill health, we only had a few of the ladies over yesterday, but oh! what fun we had. Over tea and apple muffins, the ladies looked at photos, and chatted about their ailments. Ruby P. had just watched West Side Story and kept bursting into song, much to my delight. Mary's son had just gotten married, and she had also just been on holiday so we were treated to photos.

The highlight for me was when my mother whipped out some bags of clothing that she had been given, knowing these ladies don't really get the opportunity to shop. Though at first shy, the ladies were soon captivated. Pulling blouses and skirts out of the bags, they gasped over colours and the fabrics. They'd hold garments up to themselves, cooing, or turn to their neighbour and affirm the loveliness of whatever she had in her hand. It was really wonderful to watch; a reminder that the desire to be beautiful is so intrinsic to women, no matter what their age or circumstance.

By the way, those white tea cups with the gold and red trim just make me so happy. After the ladies had left, I'd gathered the cups, saucers and plates to wash up, but couldn't resist taking a photo.