I don't quite remember when I fell in love with tea but I do remember the most special moments of me drinking tea. I was eighteen years old and I went to live with my biological mother for four months. I had just met her months earlier and it was awkward for both of us. She and her ex-husband lived a very quiet life in Boulder, Colorado. He was a professor at one of the universities and she was a housewife. After years of drug addiction and being in and out of jail, she deserved the break. I was homeless so she and her husband agreed to let me come live with them. Each evening my mother and I would find a spot in the living room with a cup of tea and a book.

Now, years later, I'm a self proclaimed tea expert. I start each day with a wonderful English Breakfast tea to get me going. As the day progresses, who knows what wonderful tea I will crown queen. But for sure, I have at least three cups of tea a day. And yes, when I can, I have tea everyday at about 3:00 P. M. I love to invite my friends over for tea and cupcakes and so far everyone thinks it’s a delightful experience. I am always in search of the best blend of tea. Yes, I’m a tea snob, I prefer loose tea but I do like some bags also. I have learned not to judge a book by it’s cover. Some bags can be quite nice. And yes again, any Diva knows, what you drink your tea out of is very important.

Tea for me is a way of life. It's wellness for the mind body and spirit. Here, I will explore every expect of tea possible, with a high concentration on wellness. I will review the best teas, the best places to have tea, the best ways to brew tea, the best tea accessories, what tea goes best with what foods, and the list goes on and on. I plan to share my passion for tea with you. And I've been told, nothing I do is ever boring so be prepared to go on this tea journey with me.





RLT Collection Tea Ball Frosted Clear Beads!

Mint Medley by The Persimmon Tree Tea Company

About This Tea:

Until recently I had never drank Peppermint Tea made with loose leaves. And Honestly, I will probably never go back. The freshness of loose Peppermint Tea cannot be denied. When I open the can of Mint Medley, From The Persimmon Tree Tea Company, I feel as if I stepped into a garden of peppermint leaves. It is a perfect blend of organic peppermint and spearmint leaves grown in the US.

Mint Medley has become a favorite and I find myself reaching for this tea tin almost everyday. It is great for on-going nausea. The health benefits and endless. It relieves muscle aches, headaches, migraines, stress. And now that it feels like someone is sitting on my chest and I have a mean cough, I'm sure it will help to relieve some of this congestion in my chest. Mint Medley has been in my tea cup more than any tea as of late. It has really helped with my winter cough, congestion related to this bout of pneumonia. You can read my full review on The Persimmon Tree Tea Company Mint Teas.


RLT Collection AIDS Awareness Tea Ball!




Welcome to my world of books! As an pre-teen books changed my world. I fell in love with the writers of the Harlem Renaissance period and the more I read the more I wanted to read. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It spoke to my own degradation and gave me hope for a better tomorrow. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

I love to read! Inside a book I escape into someone else's life. There is something wonderful about turning to the next page of a wonderful story. Something intoxicating about the smell of the book and the story it brings to life. Reading brings me joy, and these days with my health in the balance, I find solace in my books.

I spent hours in my bedroom sequestered with the door closed reading the classics from the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes, Larsen, Hurston, Wright and Baldwin. Books became my escape and my salvation. The fiction of this period was powerful and empowering all at the same time. It gave me purpose for my own life and the courage to fight the good fight and never surrender.

Reading is the one thing that the pain of my life could never take away from me. It was the thing that helped to make it better. And even today, living with AIDS, books continue to be the safest place for me. It’s the one thing that belongs to me that AIDS cannot take away from me.The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS.

The RLTReads book club will be books that I choose. It’s me sharing a part of me with you that has nothing to do with AIDS. It’s actually in spite of AIDS. I have read hundreds of books from many different genres and I will pick the best of my reads over the years. I warn you, it will not be exclusively white or black, male or female, fiction or non fiction, it will be all of them.

I’m so excited and I’m grateful to everyone who wants to be a part of this venture. We already have 110 Book Club Members. You can email me @ RLTReads@raelewisthornton.com. The Twitter hashtag is #RLTReads. We can make this book club as wonderful as we want to make it. Who says that Oprah has to have the only ownership to a wonderful book club?

This Month We are Reading In My Fathers House by E Lynn Harris


Read along and join our discussion July 19th at 7 pm CST







For more Tea with Rae "Vlogs" Click here to visit her youtube channel

Monday, October 4, 2010

Monday Reflection: Coping...

I always want my Monday Reflections to have some meaning and to add value to the lives of my readers. But today I seem empty. Void. Have you ever felt void? Like there’s nothing there. Like everything inside of you took a vacation. That’s exactly how I feel, empty. But I know that’s not true. I know that there’s a lot inside of me because some days I feel like I’m gonna explode. But yet today I just can’t seem to call up any emotion or be creative.

Could I be so sad that I’m numb? Could I have so much going on that to think about any of it would require more then I can handle? Is this my reality, that to cope I do nothing at all? I think about nothing, I do nothing. I can’t even seem to talk to God beyond each morning when I say thank you for another day. Yes, I’m admitting that even prayer is hard to do these days. And when I do pray I simply say, “Lord, you know.” Cause He does know. Yes, I’m void of deep and profound these days. I’m just trying to keep me all together and my head above water. So I cope as best as I can. Some days I draw upon everything and others, like today, I do nothing.

In all of it, this I know for sure: I got way too much going on. Way too much. I need a break and a breakthrough. What I also know for sure is that God has not forsaken me. As sure as I have AIDS, I’m sure that God has got my back. But when you keep getting hit, you wonder why it seems that God is so silent. And for me, what appears to be silence from God, shuts me down. I know I should be in His face day and night, night and day.  But what would I say? He knows it all.

AIDS has to play itself out, that is my reality. I have AIDS and with it comes a heavy load. The physical and emotional roller coaster of this disease is no joke. I know that God’s got this, but I live in the reality of it all. I have AIDS and it’s one hell of a disease. This Bitch is mean! I live and, yes, it lives. We are bound together whether I want it or not. The consequences of my unprotected sex has me fighting for my life for the rest of my life. I made a choice about my life and body and nothing will ever change that. So in the right now of my silence I will find comfort. Comfort in my history with God and His promise to me. That all things work together for good to them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.

I know that God is working even in my silence. I also know that God won’t let me break no matter how far down I bend. He won’t let me fall, no matter how low I go. So I cope as best as I can and leave the rest up to God. I take it one day a time. Like the Gospel song goes: I don't know about tomorrow... But I know who holds my hand...

at 12:27 PM
Labels: , ,
blog comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
 
Clicky Web Analytics