Is it really healthy? HEALTHIER?

As I neared the bottom of the stairs, I heard this vaguely familiar whistling sound coming from the kitchen. I turned, walked a little faster, and a couple seconds later, there it was, our old, old kettle, on the stove, clearly announcing that the water inside was boiling. “What on earth are you doing,” I asked my sweet, beautiful wife? I wasn't being confrontational, I was just curious.

“I’m making a pot of tea, would you like some?”

“Really?” I was truly surprised; I didn’t drink tea. “You know I don’t like tea, especially hot tea. I drink black coffee this time of day and a rare glass of iced tea with dinner  . . . so what’s the deal? And, if you're just having a cup of tea, couldn't you just put a mug in the microwave?"

She was still smiling, a good thing, “I’ve been doing some research and a great number of healthcare professionals are saying that tea can be good for you. Has anybody said that about coffee lately? As for the kettle, it just popped into my head when I picked up the tea bags yesterday. You know it was Mom's and I just have fond memories of it.”

“You know I am health conscious, but tea? What’s good about it? No protein, no vitamins, that I’ve ever heard of . . . what makes it healthy?”

“Here, read this!” She handed me her iPad. 

There was an article from a well-known, highly respected hospital on its popular web site, all about the health benefits of tea, the value it offered in better digestion, improved sleep, lower risk of heart disease, improved cognitive ability . . . and more. “OK, I’m sold, give me a cup!” We were both smiling. I did enjoy my first cup that morning.

Over the next few months, I gradually broke my addiction to coffee and its magic ingredient, caffeine. Tea has caffeine, of course, but not at the levels of coffee. The amazing thing is that switching to tea changed so much of our lives, traditions, our daily routines. In the “coffee era” as I began to call it, we started the night before, setting up our automatic electric brewer so that it automatically clicked on about 5 AM and had the coffee hot and ready by the time my alarm went off at 5:30. As did my parents, and their parents before them, we got out of bed every day in time to enjoy our morning coffee before we started our day. We sat comfortably in the living room, talked about the day before, discussing any highlights, any loose-ends, watched the morning news, weather and sports on local TV, planned our new day, and after a couple of cups, got up and got things started.  Now, in this new reality, we get up, stagger to the kitchen, put the kettle of water on to boil (I could use the microwave, just choose not to), watch a few minutes of news. When I hear that whistle, I jump back into to kitchen, the wife and I pick our tea bags from the assortment we’ve collected, drop those in our mugs, and head out to begin our day. I go into my home office, log on to my computer, start checking emails, then after 2-3 minutes, pull the tea bag out of my mug, and take a sip. I’m typically a little tense until that first sip but suddenly begin to relax. It’s a whole new reality compared to the coffee days.

All things considered, this is a very small, rather insignificant part of our lives. That I drank tea then instead of coffee is not a big deal . . . even taking into account the contrast to our heritage. Our families, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, most of those generations, and our peers began their days with coffee, often had a cup after meals—and now it’s not the same. Again, it’s not the beverage that changed as much as it was the social aspects of the coffee experience. The machine made the coffee without any work from us in the morning, we sat comfortably, closer together, shared our thoughts about life, yesterday and the time to come, then moved ahead with our day. Coffee was like the centerpiece where tea is just a tiny little piece of the short morning. I had a valid reason to change drinks---it’s all the other changes I regretted.

So, what’s next, we’re months into our new lives, no coffee, minimal caffeine, all the tea ingredients that I assume will provide a longer healthier life, so was I comfortable with it? For some reason I noticed the coffee pot, still on the counter in the kitchen, as I walked through on the way to bed, and instinctively turned in that direction, just out of habit, the way I’d done it so many times before, but quickly remembered, “Oh yeah, I don’t do that before bed anymore.” I had a little laugh, but turned and headed on up the stairs. As I went up I suddenly wondered, “Do we have any Folgers in the pantry?” It wasn’t urgent that I find out, but I thought I’d check it out in the morning. And, I did. And, we did—have Folgers in the pantry. I put everything aside, took the big red Folger’s can over to the coffee maker, found a paper filter, put six scoops of the Columbian blend in the basket, poured the water in and two or three minutes later, the aroma embraced me. I poured a cup, went to my chair in the living room, took a sip, and . . . was in Heaven. 

My wife walked in, stopped, stared for a moment and then asked, “Did you make enough for me?”

“Yes, Sweetheart, I made a whole pot—your mug is right there where it always is. Pour yours and come sit down with me.”

We didn’t really discuss it in any detail, but it was clear to both of us that this is how we wanted to start our days, now and forever. The tea would stay there for a late afternoon or evening treat, but our days would go back to how they’d been for so long. I still smile when I hit the bottom of the stairs, every day.