The SUV ahead of her briefly fishtailed and kept driving down the dark country road.

The last second before impact felt suspended in time. Five individual freeze-frame images of a wood telephone pole in the bushes lit by headlights slowly advanced. And then the crash. Powder everywhere. Her nose hurt more than her sternum. I can move my legs. She glanced at the crumpled hood. No smoke. Shredded rubber covered the front seat. No blood. I'm ok.

Cautiously opening the door, the girl stepped out into the cold keeping hold of the door handle so she would not slip on the ice. She glanced up and down the deserted road weighing her options. An ominous looking house with darkened windows sat at the end of a long driveway across the street. Straining to hear whether another car was approaching she imagined getting into the next car that happened to drive by. It was 3:42am. Instead, she carefully slid across the road in her sneakers, ran up to the house set back from the road, and knocked. And waited. And knocked again. No answer.

Sweat beaded on the girl's forehead. She could not feel the cold bite of the frigid wind. Looking around she saw another house several hundred yards through the woods. She ran. Cold brambles stuck her legs through her sweatpants and ripped at her flimsy jacket. She tripped on the uneven ground, hands landing in the sharp, icy snow. Reaching the second house, she knocked even harder. A light came on illuminating the condensation of her rapid breathing.

An old woman opened the door looking alarmed. She ushered the trembling girl in and offered her a cup of tea while the girl dialed her rotary phone.

"No, thank you," replied the girl.

She girl didn't dare call her parents. A friend promised to come right away.

The girl collapsed onto a vinyl chair in the kitchen. Again, the old woman offered her a cup of tea.

"No, thank you," replied the girl.

The girl stared at the formica table, shaking visibly. The old woman moved around the kitchen speaking comforting words the girl did not hear. Finally, she set a steaming hot cup of tea in front of the girl.

"Drink it!" commanded the old woman.

The girl reluctantly did as she was told. She lifted the teacup with shaking hands. The tea sloshed slightly over the edge of the cup and trickled down her cold fingers. She didn't like the flavor of the tea, but glancing up at the determined look on the old woman's face, she decided she had better drink it anyway. Sip by sip her hands stopped trembling. Her mind began to process again. Her breathing slowed.

And that is when she first understood the power of tea.