A Blackberry Tea

June Bentley contacted me a few weeks ago inviting me to come for tea at her home in Garrison, Kentucky. June is the grandmother of one of my son’s former co-workers, and is an avid reader. She also has a lifetime of interesting memories and stories gleaned from helping her husband run the local grocery store for many years. Her roots in Garrison run deep. She’s an elegant woman who makes being 86 years old look good. We set a date for November 16.

A couple weeks later, June called back to change the address she had given me. Instead of her home, we were going to meet at the First Christian Church in Garrison. She laughed and said that she had too many friends to fit into her house and they all wanted to meet me.

When I showed up at the First Christian Church, I was astonished at the time and effort that had gone into preparing for the tea. June’s daughter, Lisa, and her daughter-in-law, Jennifer, had turned the fellowship hall into an absolute work of art. Each seating table was set with beautiful tea sets, lovely centerpieces, and there was a serving table filled with so many different kinds of sandwiches, cookies, muffins, etc. that it was hard to decide which ones to choose. They also had just about every kind of tea imaginable available. They’d used blackberries from my latest book, Under A Blackberry Moon as their theme.

Approximately forty of us met in the auditorium, where a friend of June’s who has a gorgeous voice sang, and June read a poem about friendship. Then I stumbled through a talk about my journey as a writer. The women were kind enough to listen attentively in spite of my inability to refrain from dodging down frequent rabbit holes whenever I’m talking.

Afterward, I had the pleasure of visiting with so many wonderful women. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–those who read inspirational fiction are some of the nicest people in the world!

-Serena