Friday

When I was a little girl, Friday nights were special. It was the start of the weekend, sleeping in, no school, the eve of two glorious days off. We would usually go out to dinner–for a while it was Mc Donald’s, that was a big night out.  Me, my sisters, my brother, my mom and dad.  There was something so comforting about it.  Or it would be Mexican, where I would usually fall asleep in my chair after dinner in complete Friday contentedness and dream of the weekend ahead.

My brother and I would usually spend the rest of the night in the living room with my mom and dad watching Miami Vice, laying on the floor with hands under our chin on the big blue pillow. I always looked forward to this.  Or they would watch a movie with us–telling us to cover our eyes during love scenes.

As an adult, when I was married, Fridays were drive-in nights.  Which meant picking up our favorite dinner at Andy’s, a greasy spoon kind of place that had the best fried zuccini and ranch dressing in the world.  We would sit and wait for the movie to start, just talking and relaxing with that same content Friday feeling that all was right with the world for the weekend–no work, no alarm clock, free time to do beautiful satisfying things, or to just be with the people you love.

Later on in life, I may have developed some unhealthy habits, and I may have had some Friday’s of happy hours that lasted until 2:00am–especially in my twenties.  And while I am much more level headed now–I still feel a need to restore my Fridays to what they used to be.

Childhood memories come flooding in lately of what things used to feel like and be like. The right rhythm and flow to things.  Satisfaction, innocence, love, comfort, family. I choose to try to make my Fridays like this as an adult now. As someone who is growing up. They say we kind of go backwards to being childlike again as we get older–but in a lot of ways we grow up too.  I guess we all need a combination of both to be balanced and have a happy life.

Tonight, it’s dinner at Red Robin with my best friend and lover.  My little piece of family in addition to my family of origin. Then to Pet Smart to pick out some more presents for our little kitten, who is our newest addition to our unit.  Then...maybe a pay per view movie. (Too bad Miami Vice isn’t on anymore. But I guess it just wouldn’t be the same anyways). And all the while, the relief of Friday — as it should be—as it was meant to be..and dreams of a weekend of no work, no alarm clock, of time with people I love.  A canvas to fill with a happy, content life.

~Jenny