Nostalgic for a Sip

Peach Green Tea Lemonade

The taste of middle school. The first summer of freedom. We would ride our bikes into town and stop at Starbucks to get a drink. We would sit outside in the burning sun, with the condensation dripping down our arms. It is still the only drink I get from there, especially in the summer.

Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri

We made this for your birthday party one year. It wasn’t a pool party, but you wore a bathing suit nonetheless. You chose the plastic fancy-looking glasses that had cacti on the stems. You ran inside to grab the blended concoction from mom and passed one to me. You had the biggest smile, almost reaching the flower in your hair. After we were halfway done chugging the sugary drink, we came up with the idea to top it off with some whipped cream. It was perfect. Faces at the bottom of the cup, the sun went down and the torches burned bright. What a nice birthday. We didn’t put those glasses away after your party that year, we drank from them all summer long.

Chocolate Milkshake, With a Cherry on Top

Your favorite dessert. When we go to the ice cream shoppe, you choose between a chocolate milkshake and a float, usually the chocolate milkshake wins. The year that mom was making her homemade ice creams, we had them almost every day. Scoop in the ice cream, sprinkle in the mini chocolate chips and add just a tiny amount of milk so we would be able to eat it with a spoon, and blend. Though, the best was when we didn’t use a blender. When we got a ginormous glass and hand mixed the ice cream into the milk. The hard work made it taste better.

Water, Sparkling Water, and Limeade

All at once. When we were walking around the city in search of my first apartment. Violet was running us up and down streets, climbing up six flights of stairs, and racing other hopeful tenants trying to find an apartment that I would like. Unfortunately, Violet wasn’t quite understanding of my hopes and we ended up empty handed that day, with sweat stains. We plopped down panting at a nearby cafe and ordered as many drinks as possible. You got these three, I followed your lead, like always.

Hot Earl Grey Tea

We woke up bright and early, the sun just coming up, overlooking the ocean from a balcony. There was a nice cool breeze so we were able to sit outside in the adirondack rocking chairs with sweatshirts on. The water was boiling on the stove. I don’t mind waiting for the water to boil; I like it actually. The promise of something warm and delicious coming in the next few minutes. While I wait, nothing needs to occupy my mind. I can simply wait. You brought out the teacups, steaming in the cool air, yours with honey, mine with milk. We sat and sipped our tea while listening to the ocean. What a wonderful morning.

Sparkling Rosè

For my twenty-first, I opted for sparkling rosè instead of the obvious choice, champagne. This way, we could top them off with raspberry sorbet. The drink was lovely, but I remember it being an odd day; I felt a little off, as if I wasn’t the one actually experiencing it. Later that night, we sat around a campfire, roasting marshmallows like we always used to do. That’s when I started to feel better. It wasn’t that I wasn’t enjoying the day before, but doing this made me feel like nothing had changed. And I have difficulty with change.

I am nostalgic for how the drinks tasted in these moments. I want them when I’m feeling sad. Perhaps it’s not the drink itself, but the memory they created.