Sweet Tea & Snap Peas Quotes

“Worryin’ is like sitting in a rockin’ chair. It don’t get you no further down the road.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“It’s nearly nightfall, the vast evening sky as resplendent and intricate as that quilt hanging from the wooden knob on the side of Grandma’s dresser. This sky is like the work of a seamstress, sown tangerine-orange, raspberry-pink, and dappled with cream-white clouds for an extra touch, the finished product so lush and vibrant that I could gape at it for hours.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Change is a part of life, son,” says Grandpa. “But
you want to know two things that never change?”
“Death and taxes?” Grandma asks.
“No,” Grandpa says. “Sweet tea and snap peas.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“It’s Sunday—my grandparent’s favorite day of the week. To them, Sundays are good for three things: church, rest, and fried chicken from Piggly Wiggly.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“I wish I had more time,” Grandpa says finally, the words a whisper. “Seventy years sounds like forever when you’re young, doesn’t it? But it’s not. It’s just a blink. Really no time at all.” He pauses. “But I can’t think of any better way to spend the last of it than with you.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“For making you sad.”
With a weak smile, he says, “You make my heart too full to be sad.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“People don’t see you when you’re older. People like me and Ella…it’s like we’re
invisible. That’s how I feel…invisible.”
I looked at him for a moment, looked at the wrinkles on his face, the creases under his eyes, the faint white stubble along his jaw, the ruddiness of his nose, his cheeks. I loved his wrinkles, loved the lines of wisdom
on his brow, his forehead. Loved his calloused hands, the healthy red of his skin, the hairs on his head resembling pale-gray toothbrush bristles. “I can’t imagine not seeing you, Grandpa.” A tear slid down his cheek, catching in the corner of his mouth. “You’ll never be invisible to me.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Whenever I get so lonesome that my chest starts to ache, I open a book and read. I’ve found that reading cures nearly everything: boredom, loneliness, even anger. What’s great about books is that they’re reliable; they’re safe. Life changes, but the words in the books stay the same.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“The television is now playing a commercial for car insurance.
"What's that? An ostrich?" asks Grandma.
I shake my head. "I think it's an emu."
Grandpa scratches his scalp, the hairs on his head resembling pale-gray toothbrush bristles. "You know, Ella, it looks just like your second cousin.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“the golden sun hovers on the horizon among wispy clouds, most of them pink, others a dusty orange like brewed tea.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“I wish Grandma and Grandpa could live forever. What am I supposed to do without them?"
Aunt Theresa shakes her head, locks of gray hair swaying around her face. "Ya better enjoy 'em while you've got 'em. Soak up every moment. Listen to every word. Tell 'em how much you love 'em. Things like that matter.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Until middle school, I never knew people could say so much without saying much of anything at all.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“She's clearly only got one oar in the water.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Amen, pastor!" Myrtle chimes in again. "Praise the Lord!"
To me, the church people are like a bunch of chickens--when one clucks, another one starts up, until eventually they're all clucking.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“She raised me on sweet tea and snap peas, and for that, I'll forever be grateful.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“There ain't anything simple about raising a child. It's messy and complicated and painful and wonderful all at once. But it ain't simple.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“don't have enough sense to pour pee out of a boot with the directions written on the heel.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“How is it possible to feel so lonesome in a room full of people?”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“I never felt so safe and loved as when I was being read to.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“You just can't be everyone's cup of tea.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Being different makes a person special.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Getting older is realizing that who you love most will one day be gone.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“People don't see you when you're older. People like me and Ella...it's like we're invisible.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Everyone has at least one thing that makes them unique and special.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“Being popular is boring. It never lasts for long. I'd rather be myself than to have to change who I am to fit in.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“In life, you will do some bad things, but a lot of great things too. You will find that some people won't like anything you do, no matter how great it might be. You might think you've done the best thing in the world or took the only course of action there was to take, and there will still be those who'll hate you for it. You just can't be everyone's cup of tea.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“I wish I felt more like a person, not like some ghost seeing everyone, hearing everything, without anyone noticing it.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“I wish making friends was as easy as the books and movies make it seem.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“But I guess that's the cruel reality of change, how quickly it can wrap its fingers around your life and snatch away everything safe and familiar.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas

“But a grandparent also needs a child. To live longer, to smile more, and to learn to love all over again.”
― McCaid Paul, Sweet Tea & Snap Peas