Storm in a teacup: memoirs of a tea lady. Chapter 9

  Chapter 9

On winning the Tour de France, Mother, inexplicably, lost her joie  de vivre. Mother was never, ever, quite the same.  She refused all interviews and gave her yellow jersey to me, and her prize money to charity .

        Mother took to her bed. And I took over the reins as Wattlebird’s tea lady. I was ten years old at the time, and the weight of being a full-time tea lady weighed heavily upon me. 

        On becoming an official tea lady—the youngest ever in Australia— Mother gave me gift, a sterling silver tea strainer, with the following engraved along its handle, ‘the journey is everything.’

Storm in a teacup: memoirs of a tea lady. Chapter 8.

 Chapter 8.

Mother, never one for sitting around, went hiking when not serving tea or volunteering for the many causes she belonged to. Together we trekked the countless bush-tracks near our small country town. And when tramping, Mother would often burst into song.

          She possessed a great singing voice, and a  knack for mimicking artists such as Elvis Presley, Dusty Springfield and Janis Joplin.  Her favourite song though was —Rehab— by the late, great Amy Winehouse. I can see mother now, gyrating   in the middle of  a bush-track, doing those very distinctive  Amy Winehouse moves, hands cutting the air , snake-lidded eyes, while protesting in a soulful voice that no-one was going to put her into rehab.

          But after, once we were further along the track, mother would murmur softly, ‘damn shame.’

               

Storm in a teacup:memoirs of a tea lady. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

Mother often worked as a volunteer at the Wattlebird haven, which was a refuge for the broken hearted. Or as mother described it, ‘child, it’s a place for grown-ups who’ve lost their way.’

          ‘Is that why it’s so crowded?  I asked.

‘It is child, it is.’

Mother worked as a tea lady at the haven, a job she was devoted to. ‘A broken heart can be mended, child. And a good start  — is a pair of ears and a cup of tea.’