TGIF

To my son Tommy,

"Thank God It's Friday" is common proclamation you will hear through out the ages as the normal work week comes to an end.  Even atheists and agnostics will shout this as they prepare to celebrate.  It is so common a restaurant created a very successful franchise from celebrating the end of work and beginning of the weekend.  People will head out in droves for a night of debauchery that may lead them to a Saturday morning where they will do everything but thank God.  It almost like some mystical magical ceremonial right of passage for the week from the ancient times of the druids.

Of course this is another man-made construct of date and time.  The weekly cycle has no beginning nor end and is just a constant revolution.  Human nature has a hard time grasping something that has no beginning nor end and goes in an endless circle.  So they try to categorize and break it up and have created the work week and the weekend to break the monotony.   And trust me, though I realize just like the blue moon that Friday is really no more special than any other day, I do appreciate a good celebration for surviving yet another week at work.

Unfortunately, Friday usually doesn't symbolize the end of my work week.  I work too many weekends for that.  I am now too old for the Saturday hangover so my Friday night debauchery is quite limited.  When I was younger, I never limited myself to just Friday night drinks and thought less of those that did.  And I don't quite understand sleeping in on Saturdays.  Why would I wake up early every day of the week to go to that four letter word most of us dread called work, and then when I can theoretically have a day for myself and do the fun stuff, I sleep through it and don't jump up with the eager anticipation of the "free" day?  I do get that sleep can be fun and I at one time lived for the "extra 15 minutes" of sleep, but my how times and my point of view changed.

So tonight when you grab your green party hat and your favorite cookie monster and we ready ourselves to go and celebrate Friday and family at your Uncle Rob and Aunt Debbie's house, remember that you should thank God for everyday whose name ends in a "Y".  I know I thank God for those very days as I count my blessings such as you and your mother.

Sincerely with love from your dad,
Leo