(written by Islander)

Friday nights inexorably flow into Saturday mornings. There is also a cause-and-effect relationship between them. For many of us, Friday nights tend to be a time for “blowing off steam” after the work week, though my history of them has often been more like arson, with my own self as the target. Realizing through painful experience that I am not flame-retardant, I don’t ignite myself on Friday nights as much as I used to. But the cause-and-effect relationship persists.

Late yesterday afternoon my spouse and I began crossing the water to Seattle to attend a celebration of a friend and former colleague’s 10th year of recovery from being struck by a Seattle emergency vehicle through no fault of her own, an event that nearly killed her and inflicted a severe traumatic brain injury. Her long, gradual recovery defied all medical prognoses. She still has deficits compared to who she was before the accident, but looking back over the last 10 years, what she has achieved through pure strength of will has been astonishing.

It was a great gathering of herself, her family, and her friends, not just locally but from around the country. But we forgot about the ferry schedule, missed a 10 pm sailing back to where we live, and waited around the ferry terminal with a bunch of other exhaused and/or wasted people ’til the next one left after midnight. By the time I got home and to bed, the clock was not far away from 2 am. Continue reading »