I am standing in the basement of the fraternity of the week. Someone just turned on “Your Love” by the Outfield and the whole party has stopped to join in on an impromptu karaoke session – all of us united by our eagerness to put the pain of finals week behind us. Beer flies everywhere as we all get a little too in to the chorus. I just want to use your love toniiiiiiight. As my hands raise above my head and I jump along to the beat I wish desperately that the night never ends.
I am casually sipping a beer. The ping ping ping of beer pong echoes from the room behind me. It has been ages since I was last at the fraternity house. I don’t miss it much. I am listening to a friend animatedly tell stories of the football game from earlier in the day. I smile to myself as I look around the room and see everyone in their game day t-shirts. The parties are smaller than they once were. The door opens and I rush to greet some of my friends who have just arrived. As we reenter the room I find myself hoping for more Saturdays like this.
I am leaning against the bar. Some guy is trying in vain to get my number. I impatiently tap my fingers, as the bartender makes his way toward me with my gin and tonic. My friend smiles knowingly at me from across the crowded room. She swoops in to save the day and we both start laughing as she leads me through the crowd to where a couple of friends are waiting. Once we are all settled in to a quiet booth, I excitedly turn the conversation toward our plans for next weekend.
I am sitting on the couch under a pile of blankets. I feel relaxed from a conversationally rich dinner with friends and am contemplating whether or not I want to go out. As my thoughts drift to memories of the Saturdays I wished would never end, I notice that the time is nearing 10pm. I press play on the next episode of Gossip Girl and pull the blankets closer. Before going to bed, I add next Saturday’s dinner plans to my calendar.
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I completely relate to this. Dinners filled with wine, delicious food and great conversation are my current favorite thing. But it really wasn’t that long ago that I was inhaling pizza at 3am with a raspy voice and beer spilled all over my shirt. Oooh, nostalgia.