The Tea Closet: Before and After Dementia

Before I met Romeo, I never had more than four or five boxes of different types of tea in the house. Then Romeo moved in, bringing with him more tea than I'd ever seen in one household. He could have opened a tea shop.

He had every brand I had ever heard of and many I hadn't. He had bags of tea, boxes of tea, loose teas, herbal teas, black teas, green teas, white, red -- everything. And he drank it all, five or six cups a day.

Romeo can drink only herbal tea now. I prefer nothing but. As a result, my pantry overfloweth with tea that we won't drink. I count no less than 30 boxes all together, most of them already opened. So what to do with the tea we can't drink? Can't donate opened boxes. Too much tea to keep on hand for guests. And neither am I able to create enough art pieces to use up all the tea -- yes, I've sprinkled loose tea on a few canvases. Spices, too, as well as dirt and flour and yeast.

In any case, I'm sure I'll figure out what to do with all the tea. For now, perhaps I should be thankful that Romeo doesn't have a taste for something more exotic -- like eye of newt or monkey brains.