Last Saturday I met up with a bunch of my friends from university. These friends are lifers with me. We lived with each other, played rugby together at university, and we shared many memories. But above all else I was so jacked up to see them since I hadn’t seen many of them since the pandemic. I thought that maybe I’d have one or two drinks, but instead I started drinking at around 3 pm and did not stop drinking till about 2 am. Here’s the thing about me and drinking alcohol – I am good at it. Not like I can drink a lot but rather I am an artist with having a good drunken time. I know my limit and I choose to dance right on top of it. That line between getting out of control and snapping into sobriety if shit goes down, that is something that I’ve mastered from years of limit testing. And honestly, I thought I was going to have one drink and pass out, then proceed to get a nasty hangover. BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED. I had so much fun. I guess partying and drinking is like riding a bike for me, it’s just something that I’ll never really be bad at.
Most importantly, alcohol amplified that night for me. I was able to get a little looser with my confidence and have truly great conversations with my friends that I hadn’t seen for forever. We talked about the changes in our lives over the past year and half. One of us got engaged and had a kid, a few others got new jobs and careers, and another bought a house with their partner. We got teary eyed talking about the past, talking about mistakes that we made together when we were younger, and hoped that tomorrow our lives would improve. No one said it but I’m sure that we also hoped that our futures would involve each other a lot more (or maybe this was just me). I didn’t need alcohol to make me feel warm and nostalgic inside about my old friends, but it made the experience more memorable. Such as this wasn’t the first time that we had a night like that and it won’t be the last. I don’t think alcohol is good or bad, it comes down to context as all things in the world. But damn did drinking that Saturday remind of all the other great Saturday nights drinking with friends. I hope to have a lot more nights like that. I hope for you reading this too that you also have more nights like that reminiscing and celebrating with your loved ones as well.
