I had the simple joy of having a long-time friend over for supper. We’ve known each other for between 25 to 35 years.

The title of this Blog comes from the tagline of the Comedy TV Channel. I always liked its simplicity but didn’t take it literally.

Thankfully, we are all older adults with full and busy lives. These relationships are essential to me. Over the years, I realized that if we were going to stay in touch and value these relationships, we needed to book time to get together.

Every September, I would send out 4 dinner dates spread over the winter months. After discussing them, we confirmed everyone’s attendance, and all the dates went into our calendars.

Reality often intervened closer to each date; sometimes, somebody couldn’t make it. However, conflicting priorities were never judged, and withdrawals were made without question.

Recently, we hosted the last date of the winter. The description of winter was a bit off this year, as a lot of snow had melted in the last few days.

It was my wife’s turn to cook for her 2 weeks, so I helped, taking direction from her. Sometimes, she likes to take the day to cook something special, but this time, she headed to comfort food- lasagne. Ceasar salad and garlic bread rounded out the mains, with a store-bought tiramisu for dessert.

We start an hour earlier than we used to, accommodating those who fade an hour earlier than they used to.

I have a large single malt Scotch collection, which we all enjoy sampling together. We listened to the ‘Chill-Instrumental Cover Mix’ playlist on Spotify. It played quietly in the background throughout the evening.

We left time for drinks to pass through our system so folks would get home safely.

Was this time well wasted?

Resoundingly, yes.

After the friends left, I reflected on the evening. It felt so good to be together again. With covid 5 years in our rear-view mirror, a lasting pact was not to take the value of friendships for granted.

Please give this a bit of a think. What is something in your life that could be categorized as time well wasted for which the world is very marginally better? On the other hand, the value of the experience is priceless.

I am curious about your thoughts. Please comment below with your bit of a think.

Photo is an AI request with several follow-up refinements as follows:

1. Create an image in landscape format of 3 couples having a casual dinner in a private home. The meal consists of lasagne, Caesar salad, and garlic toast. Red wine is also served.
2. Can you add napkins? Remove the spaghetti and have empty plates with a serving of lasagne from the serving pan in the foreground.
3. Can you make the adults look like a young group in their early 70s
4. Can you empty the plates and fill 2 of them with pieces from the lasagne? Also, only match the number of place settings at the table to match the number of people, i.e. 6.

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And my thanks to St. Albert’s 50+ Activity Centre for making this Blog possible.

Volunteer Blogger

glenn.walmsley@icloud.com