The Flannelly Family Famous Friday Fun Night, and how it all began

1) Kathy Flannelly

“Class, today we are going to keep sharing stories about our families and our traditions. Today is Katherine Flannelly’s turn. Kathy, please come to the front and tell us!” A young girl, no more than seven years old, with red hair and freckles, stands up. She smiles and skips towards her teacher. She is holding a big bag full of boxes. “What have you got for us, Kathy?” “Well, Mrs. Thompson, I brought some games!” she takes out a set of chess, some dominoes, three or four card games, puzzles, and a huge box with colorful dices, some wooden meeples, and plastic tiles. “This is great, Kathy! I guess you must really like board games, don’t you?” “Oh, yes I do, Mrs. Thompson! And it’s something in my family as well!” “Really? How come?” “Every Friday night, mom, dad, my brother, and I play one or two different games right after dinner. Sometimes Grandpa Nat joins us too. It’s so much fun!” “That sounds great, indeed!” says the teacher, “So is that your family’s tradition? Kathy, how did it all begin?” The little girl puts a finger on her mouth and stays quiet for a moment. As far as she can tell, Board Game night has always been a thing. “I guess it began after my brother and I were born”, she eventually says. “My parents were too busy all week with their work and stuff, but they always say we can move forward our bedtime on Fridays, and playing games together is like having a party! We eat snacks, we play music, no telephones are allowed…” “That’s great, Kathy, maybe during the break time, you and your friends can play one or two of your games together. Ok, now it’s James Friediksson’s turn. Jimmy, what can you tell us about your family tradition?”

2) Toby Flannelly

“How about going to the movies next weekend?” says Linda, with her arm around Toby’s. They have been going out for the past two weeks, and her parents have eventually given her permission to go on a date just the two of them. “Mom says she can take us to the cinema on Friday, and she’ll pick us up after the movie”. “I’d love to, Lin, but can we move it for Saturday?” “Why?” she grins, “Do you have another date perhaps?” “No, it’s not that, it’s just this silly family thing…” Toby scratches his head. He is thirteen years old and too tall for his age. Yet, when he speaks, he sounds like a young boy, and not like the teenage young man he pretends to be. Luckily for him, after exchanging text messages, Linda and her mother agree to move the date to Saturday afternoon. He won’t miss the chance to kiss her for the first time. “It would have been a pity if we couldn’t reschedule”. He would never confess it to his girlfriend –at least, not yet- but he would hate to miss Friday Night Fun at home! “Besides, it’s my turn to choose the game, and this time I want to play Dragon Masters!”

How did it all begin? He wonders. He is uncertain, but he believes it has something to do with the birth of her sister. He was only six years old at that time, and he spent most of his free hours in front of the computer, playing video games or watching cartoons. The board games, he is certain, were the best resource their parents could come up with to deal with sibling rivalry and to keep him away from the screens –at least, one night a week! Even now, every Friday, he complains when mom and dad tell him to turn off the phone and join them at the table, but he is secretly delighted, especially on those nights when Grandpa Nat joins them for dinner, brings a box of chocolates, and stays for the games.

He wouldn’t change the family tradition for the world, but he is not ready to tell Linda about it yet. Not if he wants to kiss her at the movies next Saturday!

3) Jenna Matthews

Jenna checks the calendar on her phone: tomorrow is Friday, she remembered well. “I think I’m craving for some Mexican food this time! But I have to check with Nathaniel. I’m pretty sure Hal mentioned his father was coming tomorrow night”. She stops by the supermarket and buys some healthy snacks for her children. She knows they are always looking forward to Friday night, even Toby who plays hard to get.

The next day, since she has the Friday afternoon free, Jenna decides to clean up the house and leave everything ready for the traditional Flannelly Family Fun Night. She is proud of being the sole creator of the tradition, though she doesn’t mind that it somehow ended up taking her husband’s family name.

She remembers well how it all started: it was eight years ago when she was pregnant with Kathy. Despite the fact there should have been happy circumstances, Hal and her were going through some rough times. She had lost all sexual desire –the pregnancy hormones were to blame-, Hal was turning 45 (his husband was ten years his senior) and she feared he was planning on leaving her. Another woman’s name had slipped a couple of times –who was this Rhonda? Anyway, after discussing it with her best pal Stacy, she decided she was not going to drop the towel on her marriage. With the new baby on the way and a hyperactive young boy to raise, she needed Hal by her side. 

She never thought a single Father’s Day present would make such a difference: instead of the usual underpants and socks, she picked up for him the 30th Anniversary Edition of Conquerers of Endorra, a board game he used to play when he was young. Hal was delighted and surprised! Soon, she also discovered she enjoyed board games, and it was a great way to entertain little Toby when the baby slept. Traditional checkers, chess, poker, and dominoes were followed by new purchases, such as Crazy Cathedrals, Meet Mr. Martian, Call My Name, Invasion, and others. 

Jenna loves playing board games every Friday because she believes they save their marriage. Perhaps she is right! In any case, the chemistry between her and Hal came back, and she never heard about Rhonda ever again. She smiles while she pours more lemon juice over the bowl of homemade guacamole, her husband’s favorite snack for game night.

4) Hal Flannelly

That Father’s Day, when he opened the big package and found the Deluxe Edition of Conquerers of Endorra, Hal was transported to a time in his life he thought he had forgotten. He remembered how dim those years had been, his teenage years when he spent most of his nights fighting insomnia, and most of his days dealing with his inner demons. Going out with his friends was not an option (not that he had any), and it wasn’t until he attempted to harm himself that his parents took him to a therapist, a young woman named Rhonda. She had diagnosed the boy with anxiety and depression, something way too common in boys his age at that time. 

It was his dad who came up with the idea: instead of letting him play video games on his phone, which kept ringing with alarming news, he taught him how to play chess. Then, he discovered Scrabble, and soon, a whole new world of games opened up for him. Spending some evenings playing with his parents kept him going. And later, when his mom got sick and died, Flannelly Family Game Night brought him and his dad closer than ever. He was happy now that Jenna believed she had made the whole thing up when he knew she had only recreated a long-time family tradition. Deep down, he knew they owed it all to Rhonda. She had been the best therapist ever. The last time he tried to call her was during one of his mid-life crises, but then he found out she was long retired.

5) Nathaniel Flannelly

“Hi, grandpa!” Kathy kisses Nathaniel, and he smiles at her with the biggest smile. He loves his grandchildren more than anything in the world, and he kisses and hugs them as often as possible. It’s so good visiting them and spending some Friday evenings at their home! Nathaniel remembers too well how he couldn’t invite anyone home for some years. Back then, during those terrifying times of the pandemic, when everyone had to stay indoors and avoid social contact. He and his wife missed their friends and relatives, some of them were lost with the virus. 

But the worst part of all was raising their only child, Hal, in isolation. Without going to school, receiving his lessons only through a screen, and spending most of his childhood years in front of the TV set rambling of horrifying news, his son quickly developed symptoms, such as wetting the bed, being afraid of the dark, or being unable to control his rage. He remembered something his grandmother Annie had said once: this too shall pass, be grateful you have a home you can spend your time in, be grateful you can work from your computer, and be grateful you still have food on your table. As for your kid, well, spend time with him! Play with him, have fun together! Who knows how much time we got left; we should better make the best out of it.

During an interview with his son’s therapist (what was her name again? Rose? Rosalie?), he came up with the idea of playing board games now and then. “Actually, a weekly routine may help Hal get better”, she agreed. So Nat and his wife decided on making Friday night the Flannelly Family Game Night, in a time where there were no cinemas open, no theatres, no restaurants, and one could only go outside risking catching a deadly virus. In any case, Hal had become a huge fan of board games and the routine soon became a family tradition.

6) John Flannelly

“November 9th, 1944. Dear Annie, I hope you are doing well. I heard you and your family are safe in the USA by now. I wish I could send you this letter and you could write me back telling me things about New York. Is the Statue of Liberty as impressive as it seems in the magazines we read together?

Things haven’t changed much around here. My family and I are still most of the time in the shelter. We never know when the planes are going to bomb our town. I have already read all of my books. And we can’t paint because we have run out of paper. 

Still, the other night my mother found an old game of backgammon among my grandfather’s belongings. None of us knew how to play, but we made up our rules, and now, the days and the nights seem somehow shorter. 

Do you enjoy games, Annie? If this war ever ends, I hope I can take a ship, go visit you and play together. But we’ll have to learn how to do it properly. I send you my love, and although I don’t think I will be able to mail this letter, if I ever see you again I promise you can read it.

Love, John”