Friday Nights: A Personal History

 

The 1964 -1969 Era:

I remember nothing.

Friday nights are just the same

as Tuesday nights when you’re three.

 

The 1970-1979 Era:

Fish fry Fridays during lent,

staying up two hours later

than my school night bedtime

helps me peek into adolescence –

I’m confused about the view.

Friday night high school football

with the crowds and the lights,

not to mention the cheerleaders,

hanging out on our block

playing hide ‘n’ go seek,

board games with Mom and Dad and John,

then Sanford and Son,

Chico and the Man,

and Rockford Files.

 

The 1980-1989 Era:

High school parties at friends’ houses,

hanging out uptown,

parties in college dorms,

hanging out in bars

having a blast with friends

then more hanging out with friends

having a blast in bars.

 

The 1990-1999 Era:

The hanging out in bars

and having a blast with friends

STOPS.  Mostly.

One kid, then two.

They’re our entertainment,

that and cheap cable TV

with Diagnosis Murder.

Our Friday nights are just the same

as our Tuesday nights once again.

Go out…?  We can’t even stay awake.

 

The 2000-2009 Era

By Friday night, we drop

exhausted,

we have three now.

We stay in on Fridays and try

to build a life for them,

where they’ll look back

as I do,

with fondness for family Friday nights.

 

The 2010-2016 Era

No more babysitters needed,

we can go out, but we don’t know where to go.

Parties at friends’ houses come full circle for us

as we wait for our teenagers to return from them.

I know why my mom couldn’t sleep in the 80s.

 

And that brings us to tonight,

another Friday night in,

As I sit and I write and I remember.