On April 15, 2009, a few million American citizens got together and celebrated Tax Day by throwing what were billed as "Tea Parties."

Organizers were allegedly inspired by the 1773 Boston Tea Party, a festive event during which American colonists expressed their opposition to a new British tea tax by dumping crates of tea into Boston Harbor.

Today, citizens dump sewage instead of tea into Boston Harbor, but the centuries-old tax connection was enough to inspire the 2009 event.

Millions who took part thought a "tea party" was a great way to drive home a point about high taxes.

Some tea lovers, though, had mixed emotions about seeing their favorite beverage being used as a party favor at a political rally. I lean that way, too. Not because I favor higher taxes, but because every Southerner knows tea is too important to be pushed for the sake of politics.

My wife loves hot tea and knows more about the beverage than any member of the board of directors of Lipton or Luzianne. My tastes are simpler. I like it cold and sweet. It's the way I was raised.

Aside from diabetics and moonshiners, you'd be hard-pressed to find a Southerner who didn't grow up drinking sweet iced tea and loving it. No matter whose door you knocked on, a pitcher of sweet tea was always on hand to refresh family members or unexpected guests.

These days you're as likely to find Snapple, soda or energy drinks in the fridge, but it's good to know that at least a few Southern women still cling to the old tradition of offering tea to guests.

One of them is a 47-year-old Mississippi woman Tammy Sexton, who is now my leading candidate for Southern Belle of the Year. What else can you say about a woman so dedicated to Southern hospitality she offered a deputy sheriff a glass of tea right after she'd been shot in the head?

According to press reports, Tammy Sexton is not kin to Tammy Wynette, who sang "Stand by Your Man" (and is the namesake of my girl cat). In fact, when Tammy Sexton's husband, Donald Ray Sexton, started slapping her around, Tammy not only refused to stand by him, she got a court order requiring Donald Ray to stay away.

Unfortunately, he didn't. Instead, he defied the court order and, on April 12, showed up at Tammy's house, pulled a pistol and shot her in the middle of the head. Then, Donald Ray walked to the porch, where he shot and killed himself. Instead of dead, the bullet only left Tammy disoriented. But not enough to throw her completely off her game. After the shooting, she didn't go to the hospital. She went to the kitchen and made some tea.

When a deputy sheriff arrived expecting to find a dead woman, Tammy greeted him at the door holding a bloody rag over the bullet wound. Tammy told him to have a seat and offered him a glass of tea.

"You just don't hear of something like this," said Sheriff Mike Byrd of Jackson County, Miss. "Somebody gets shot in the head, and they're dead."

But she wasn't. Tammy was rushed to a Birmingham hospital and is expected to recover fully.

Dr. Patrick Pritchard, an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, said, "There is a space in the brain where a missile could pass without doing any major damage. Is it possible? Yes. It would be rare."

Maybe so, but Sheriff Byrd's explanation made a little more sense to those who believe in the grace of God and the power of Southern sweet tea.

"There's no way she should be alive other than a miracle from God," Byrd said.

All I can say is, "Amen, brother. And pass the tea."

(Send your e-mail comments to: alex@newnan.com)