Fish on Fridays, not just for Lent where I come from

Now that we are in the season of Lent, most Catholics traditionally will abstain from meat on Fridays. There has been some controversy just where this tradition of abstinence came from, but now that fish has been considered more of a delicacy, it hardly seems like a sacrifice to pass on the beef. Well, I may be able to shed some insight into why some families have fish on Fridays.

I recall quite vividly when my older brother went off to college. He had done very well in high school and thought that he'd like to attend a smaller school so that he could continue his basketball career. Hamilton College in Upstate NY was his first choice, but after some "soul" searching, he picked up the trail left by his 2 older sisters. When he was moving into the dorm, someone dropped a set of dumbbells out of the window crashing into a nearby parked car. I was concerned that this might have been an omen for his college career, but that first experience with college life, didn't deter him from becoming the professional he is today.

Since he was the first son to head off to college, I think my mother always felt she should do something special for him when he came home. You know, like the prodigal son. Naturally, he and my sister would usually come home weekends, starting with Friday night. She would typically ask him what he wanted for dinner, something special of course. Generally, my Mom would fix his favorite, scallops. She had her own recipe to bread them before popping them into the oven. So, if my brother was coming home, it was scallops for dinner...Fish on Fridays.

Although the tradition for fish on Fridays is observed primarily during Lent, I dare say that Fridays, any time of the year, could be nights where the Omega 3's are flowing aplenty. Certainly in the case of my brother's visits home, it didn't matter whether it was Lent or at any other time of year, we were having scallops when he was coming home. "Shellfishly", I was even more thankful to see my older brother because scallops just happen to be one of my favorites too. Thanks Lawrence Arturo!