We were deep in the middle of a financially difficult season, for our family. The whole year had been particularly taxing on our lives. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. Spiritually. It was tough to lift up my head and face the day, every day. Further complicating it, was harshness of our NY winter, it seemed to last forever. Everything looked so gray. So forgotten. I felt that all parts of joy had truly left me and may never return. Going through these tough times and engaging many sacrifices to make ends meet, was stealing the rich succulence out of my life. That is to say bluntly, I was not having ANY fun at all. Not even the cheap kind.
On that bleak day in New York, I sat, exhausted by it all. I needed a breather…a break…a reason to smile and celebrate. Anything to put some color back into my soul. It wasn’t just me. My husband’s coutenance looked as if he were made up of ashes. This wouldn’t do. It couldn’t go on.
So…I prayed.
Without really pondering it, for some reason, I started daydreaming about a brand new wine store that had opened up locally. It had the prettiest tiled floors with soft modern lighting that seemed to make your skin look sun-bathed just ever so slightly. Throughout the large room, resting on the most fabulous cherry wood shelves, lay wines of every shade of red, pink and white from around the world. Oddly, even the windows felt grand with their crisp white lines and elegant modern design. The whole building seemed to exude a cross between Williams-Sonoma and the elegance of the wine country of Napa Valley. And that my friends, felt warm, cozy and inspiring.
I dashed over to my husband and said, “I have an idea! Let’s go visit the new wine store and explore it. We NEED to get out. And I think it will let us escape for a while. Maybe we could find a wine for under $10.00 to have tonight when we get home?“
Since Mr. G is alwaysup for something new, it didn’t surprise me that without hesitation, he jumped at the chance. (have I told you how much I love him? I do. I really do.)And soon we were off to explore this new place.
The environment was just as I had hoped. Full of soft jazz music and kind people who smiled a lot and offered to help us around every corner. They even had a small wine tasting station. We tried four wines, if I recall correctly. I suddently felt sophisticated for the first time in what felt like forever. And I promptly fell in love with everything about the place. So did he.
After spending nearly an hour, absorbing the entire experience, walking about…reading labels and collecting a few inexpensive wines in our basket to consider…we chose the one bottle we’d take home and purchased it. Success!
What we noticed quickly, was how preparing our dinner that night suddenly felt like a celebration! We had a good meal, with candles lit and jazz music playing in the background…combined with a grand new wine that was bought for a mere $8.00. It felt extravagant. It WAS extravagant.
As we held up our sparkling glasses of wine, we made a toast….”to making it through that week“..to being full of succulence in the moment. (Sigh, extravagantly blessed)
And that, my friends, is where this little tradition began. For some time now, my husband and I have been living by this weekly tradition. We call it “Friday Night Wine”, though it sometimes changes to a cocktail or special martini of choice…depending on what we feel “into” at the moment.
We have found a way to make life be more about the celebration of accomplishment. Its still economical. And most definitely it has always been, a moment to raise a glass and say, “Thank you God for getting us through another week….we made it!”
Maybe you have had a truly grueling week. Perhaps it was challenging, hard, tough or unimaginable. If that’s you, I’m so sorry. (and I’m happy to pray for you, if you send me a note!) On the other hand, perhaps you’re swimming in blessings this week. And the world is in the palm of your hand. That makes me happy – I’d love to hear your successes this week!
Either way, maybe you’d like to join me and our many friends around the country for this little weekly tradition. Raise your glass of wine, your cocktail, martini, seltzer water, juice, Martinelli’s – or whatever you like, the contents don’t matter as much as the celebration. We should all be so profoundly grateful, to have made it yet another week. And it is entirely appropriate to raise your glass and thank the one who gave you the week and all that it entailed.
So “Salute!” and many blessings…we made it through another week friends!
(P.S. that is a Lemon-Rosemary Martini – I’ll post the recipe soon…amazing!!)
