Week 1: This I Believe Reflection

The This I Believe essay I will be discussing is titled "Sweet Friday" by Lena Winkler. She is a mother of five and in her third year of medical school, but more importantly she and her family are struggling through a divorce. She writes about how a weekly tradition she picked up in Georgia (the country, not the state) while on a medical trip helps bring order to her family's up-turned lives. Every Friday Winkler sets aside 30 minutes in the afternoon to have some sort of sweet dessert (usually cake or other sugar-filled pastries) with her family and friends. This tradition is called Sweet Friday. Winkler describes it as a time to relax and bond with the people in her life, and also as something to look forward to every week.

Winkler's tradition isn't a bad one. I agree that it is important to implement order in your life when your situation seems more chaotic than usual, especially for children. Thanks to this tradition, they will remember this time in their life as a time filled with joyful and comforting experiences, rather than despairing and desolate ones. On the other hand, I don't necessarily think that fighting life's issues with sugary food is a great idea either. That will only lead to obesity and diabetes in the long run. Not to mention that they could be dependent on sweets to feel emotionally stable. In summation, there's plenty of merit in the idea of this tradition, though it might want to be implemented a little healthier, but most importantly Winkler is trying to create some normalcy for her and her family during their trying times, and I can only applaud that.

1. Litotes

2. Antithesis