This_I_Believe

Sweet Tea Memories It was a hot Saturday afternoon in Desert City, California. I was headed to Los Angeles on vacation to visit family. My Corolla was running dangerously low on gas and I did not want to be stranded in the middle of nowhere waiting on a tow truck. Therefore, I decided to exit the road and pulled into the first gas station I saw. My air conditioner broke the night before so I decided to walk in and get a drink. First I thought about buying a soda or maybe even a ice cold slush, but then something caught my eye. I opened the glass door and grabbed an Arizona Sweet Tea. As I sat on the curb outside in the heat, I opened my cold tea, taking a sip; I suddenly had all these memories flashed in my head. Memories that I forgot were even there. At that moment, I realized that it's the little things that happen in my life that I can take for granted sometimes. That's why I believe in Sweet Tea. The earliest that I could remember having my first Sweet Tea was when I was six. I was at the Dallas Zoo and my mom bought me an outstanding styrofoam cup of the best drink that I ever had. It was love at first sip. Ever since that day at the zoo, I can’t get enough of that cold beverage. Sweet Tea has been a big part of my family for many generations. Whenever my family has a reunion, everyone brings their own favorite kind of tea. I call it the Catalina Tea Mixer because it’s one of the events that I look forward to the most during the year. There’s something strange about Sweet Tea, a little bit of that mysterious ingredient that I can’t quite put my tongue on just yet. That’s why I like it so much, because it’s a drink that seems to hold some kind of power that I can get a taste of every time I take a sip. It’s not just the way that it refreshes my body or quenches my thirst. It’s the way that it triggers my senses and places me back into my own memories. Most of the time it's the little things in my life that usually connect me to some of the most memorable moments. Whenever I drink Sweet Tea, I think of sitting at the park bench, sharing a nice cold glass of Sweet Tea with my first middle school crush. Sweet Tea reminds me of that hot July when I would come home from a long day of playing in the summer heat with my friends after school. My mom would always have an ice-filled pitcher waiting for me, containing the best passion fruit tea ever. Suddenly the sound of my car engine bought me back to that California gas station and I got up off the curb and threw my empty tea container in the trash, I filled up my tank and headed west knowing that this tiny experience is going to be embedded in my head forever. I also love a nice hot cup of tea when it’s cold outside. For example, there was this one Christmas that I would never forget. It was one of the coldest winters that I have ever experienced and it had been very miserable due to the recent snowstorm. After we opened the presents my mom bought my brothers and I all a hot little cup of tea; that tea was by far the best cup of hot tea that I have ever had. I honestly can’t tell you what I got that Christmas, maybe a few legos or a scooter, but I don’t know for sure. What I can tell you is how every time that I tasted that tea, the warmth from it would circulate throughout my body and gave me one of the best memories that I would ever have. My life isn’t based on how much money I might have in my wallet or if I have the best sports car. My life is based on the experiences that I have endured and the memories that I keep because of them. It is the small experiences such as drinking Sweet Tea that I appreciate the most of life. The certain things that I do not stop and just take in will become the things that I will regret in the future. Such as, showering in the rain, looking at the stars, helping others, traveling around the world, falling in love, and the list can go on. I have only one chance to live a life at its fullest so I should appreciate every part of it. Sweet Tea gives me that chance that I have always been striving for. Sweet Tea gives my life potential, strength, power, love, and happiness. Tea is all these emotions but just in a liquid form that I can take in and apply them to my everyday life. After writing this essay, I'm probably going to end up relaxing on my tea-stained sofa with my nice tall glass of Sweet Tea and just let it take me back to that park bench or my mom's tea waiting for me on the table. As I look at my glass of Sweet Tea, I never see it as half full nor half-empty, lemons or without. Even if it doesn't have that weird little red umbrella toothpick thing or a silly straw. I'm just grateful even to have the glass. This I believe.