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Time for tea Linda Colson, owner of Fairy Godmother's Tea Cottage and Cafe in Central Point, gets into character. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch Wednesday Oct 12, 2016 at 2:00 AM Oct 12, 2016 at 7:06 AM Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune @thewholedish A self-styled “fairy godmother,” Linda Colson wants to ease troubles, if only for an afternoon, at her Central Point teahouse. Her dream for Fairy Godmother’s Tea Cottage and Café kept Colson from crumbling under tremendous troubles of her own. Breast cancer compelled Colson in 2007 to close Fairy Godmother’s first location, which didn’t reopen for eight years following a fire that claimed Colson’s Medford residence. Rebuilding health and home, Colson still didn’t feel whole until she’d reinstated her business. “I didn’t have closure,” says Colson, 62. “My heart just cried for it.” With a heavy heart, Colson shuttered Fairy Godmother’s in Medford’s Holly Theatre, where she served European-style spreads of sandwiches and pastries to complement the classic tea service. The 3-year-old tearoom was well-received and was expanding its clientele, she says, when doctors detected cancer in her left breast. Colson was the first in her family to develop the disease. “I remember being shell-shocked, especially when they started saying ‘mastectomy.’ ” Her oncologist, Colson recalls, said he had never seen cancer so widespread throughout a woman’s breast. Excruciating pain and discoloration precipitated the diagnosis, confirmed a couple of months after Colson was treated with antibiotics and the cancerous cells masqueraded as calcification. Because she resisted being “reactionary,” Colson chose a single mastectomy, rather than the preventative measure of having both breasts removed. Her oncologist, says Colson, cautioned her that it was just a matter of time before cancer cropped up in her remaining breast. By the time Colson agreed to another mastectomy a year after the first, her right breast also was cancerous. Electing breast reconstruction, Colson’s recovery soon took a back seat to home reconstruction. Faulty wiring on an outdoor circuit board, she says, sparked the Jan. 18, 2009, blaze that consumed her two-story residence near South Medford High School. Still awake when the nighttime fire broke out, Colson says she smelled smoke and called 911. Now whenever she catches a whiff of something scorched, her stomach lurches. “That caused me a lot of stress.” Yet the fire and year of rebuilding, says Colson, put her hardships in perspective. Losing so many possessions would have been more devastating had she not just battled breast cancer. “I’d already survived a life-threatening event.” Life’s tragic turns don’t keep Colson down for long, says friend and fellow breast cancer survivor Marisa Petersen, 74, of Medford. Meeting Colson in a cancer support group, Petersen says she was drawn to the younger woman’s story and positive outlook. “She has continued to reach out to others.” Quenching the community’s thirst for a proper tea continues to be Colson’s calling. Looking for Fairy Godmother’s new location for about two years, Colson found the right combination of charm and kitsch off Central Point’s East Pine Street. Starting with just 12 seats, Fairy Godmother’s “Teeny Tiny Tea Cottage” moved a year ago from an outbuilding to the property’s main structure, formerly a home-décor store. In about nine months, the business doubled its capacity. Even more rewarding than the teahouse’s growth is its continuity, says Colson. She couldn’t be more gratified to throw a birthday party at the new venue for a child whose baby shower was hosted eight years earlier at the original location. “You’re in a special environment,” says Petersen, who took her 5-year-old grandson on a special outing to Fairy Godmother’s shortly after it reopened. Colson recently extended hours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays after operating three days per week for the past year. The change should appeal to lunchtime crowds coming for soup, salad, quiche and a “comfort-food casserole” special, says Colson. Adding a retail section heightens the teahouse’s appeal as a dining destination, she adds. The multicourse “royal tea” for two, priced at $45, is an indulgent way to pass more than an hour. But patrons sipping just a single cup still should sit back and savor Colson’s suggestion to slow down. “The genteelness of life is going away because everyone is so busy,” she says. “People get to leave feeling relaxed.” Call 541-772-0167 for weekend reservations. — Reach freelance writer Sarah Lemon at [email protected].