Independence Village - Plymouth, MI

My youngest son works for an investment group that owns several retirement and assisted living properties.  One of them is Independent Village in Plymouth, MI.  When he was visiting their facility he noticed the Executive Director liked tea [by tea pictures and tea memorabilia in her office].  In addition to tea, she's also a beautiful Christian so he thought we'd be kindred spirits. Last November he introduced us via a three-way phone call, and in January I invited Debbie over for a tea luncheon.  You may remember me blogging about it.

Debbie scheduled an Afternoon Tea for the residents yesterday at 2:00 o'clock and invited me to give an inspirational talk about tea.  

When I arrived some of the residents were already seated in the dining room.  The tables were set with white linen tablecloths, and fresh flowers, beautiful china teacups and teapots, and tiered servers laden with yummy tea food graced the tables.

The chef made Earl Grey cupcakes from the New York Times teacake recipe I served when I had Debbie over.

When Debbie introduced me she read my 'tea journey' from my blog post of June 2012, when I first started blogging.  It was fun to refresh my memory as I hadn't read that post in a very long time.  I'm just as passionate and enthusiastic about tea now as I was nine years ago - maybe even more as I've learned about and experienced its many attributes and benefits.

Debbie said it was the first 'real' event since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out almost a year ago.  She was so happy the first activity was a tea event.

The residents were all engaged and responded enthusiastically to questions and comments at the end of my talk.  They mentioned the various brands of tea bags they remembered being available on grocery store shelves in times past, besides Lipton's.  What brands of tea bags do you remember from days gone by?  So many new brands and varieties of tea are available today. 

As you can see by the smiles on their faces, the residents were happy for the tea event too.

There were 8 or 9 tables set up for tea time.  Before I began speaking I passed out tea quotes for them to read at the end of my talk as another means of participation.

Below is one of the sweet residents who came to talk to Debbie and me after the program.  She is a tea drinker and told us about her collection of Royal Albert Petit Point China.

We haven't established a date when I'll be returning, but when I do go back my presentation will be about Detroit's beloved J.L. Hudson Department Store.  It's a place all the residents probably shopped at when it still existed.

~ Executive Director Debbie and Me ~ 

It was a very enjoyable afternoon for the residents and me.  Thank you inviting me, Debbie!