Once when I visited my sister's home, we were just about to sit down to dinner when she lamented that she always forgot to fix a beverage with her meals. Surprised, I pondered why we both shared this shortfall. My conclusion was that when we were all living under one roof, Mother used to brew the tea in one pot and pour the hot tea into five individual large glasses to which a couple of spoons of sugar had been added. To see that we learned something of responsibility, we three kids each had a tea making chore; one would get the glasses down and measure the sugar to the bottom decorative circle design on the brightly painted glasses. The next would pour the brewed tea to the top of the second, or was it the third, circle from the bottom of each. Whoever had the finishing chore, would add ice, top off the glasses with cold water and carry them to the dinner table. Maybe, I reasoned, as adults, we just kept waiting for the tea team to get things together for us.
