Go forth and follow your passion, Bil

I was talking with Bil Silliker, manager at Licorice & Sloe (the downtown tea bar that's closing), before the City Council meeting on Monday.

We weren't talking about the reasons for the store closing, but it was equally sad.

I asked him what teas he had left because my sister wants me to get some for her.

Bil began reciting names of teas, properties of each, blends of each ... and while he did so, his body language changed, his voice changed, and his eyes got a light in them that wasn't there when I first approached him.

This man loves his tea.

It's sad that he can no longer do what he loves doing. It's sad when anyone can't do what they love doing.

I hope he and Meg can pull together the resources and start anew. It may have to be somewhere else, but I hope that Bil gets to share his expertise with tea drinkers from near and far again real soon.

Bil said he was surprised at how few people had come in over last weekend to sit around and sip tea. Everyone was buying bulk tea. His business spiked, but only because he's going out of business.

Who knows? The way it's going, a tea bar will probably appear as part of all these high-end plans for the city. Tealuxe on Newbury St. (Boston) is still alive and well.

I wish I had patronized Licorice & Sloe as much as I did Tealuxe, when I lived in Boston. But then, I had a lot more income when I lived in Boston.