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Shortly before my wedding, a priest mentor gave my husband some unusual marriage advice.
While everyone else was giving us advice like “Don’t go to bed angry,” this priest said something we’d never heard before.
“Make sure you keep spending time with your friends as the years go by,” he told my husband.
So often, he said, men stop spending time with their friends as they get older because they are so busy with work and family life.
But your spouse can’t fill all your needs for community and companionship. And not having other outlets for friendship can add stress to your marriage.
So he explained that spending time with friends actually benefits both your spouse and your marriage … not to mention yourself!
Luckily we recently moved to a great new neighborhood where we have found a haven of Catholic families like ourselves.
Here are a few of the best activities my husband and his friends have enjoyed lately.
Poker night
One of the local dads hosts a monthly poker night, and it’s become legendary. My husband and his friends have so much fun at these events, somehow without talking about anything personal at all the entire night, which baffles me!
A beer tasting and ranking party
My husband and his friends do this event with Bourbon County Stout (a cult-classic beer from local Chicago brewery Goose Island).
By splitting the drinks, it’s just a small amount of each bottle per person, but you get to try several different kinds and rate, rank, and review them.
I don’t know you guys, this doesn’t sound that fun to me. I’m not a beer drinker. But my husband and his friends love it. So if you’re into beer, give it a try.
Book club or article discussion group
Recently, the local men’s group held a book discussion of Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. Great book, and my husband loved it.
But if you don’t have time for a whole book, try an article discussion group instead. Each member can take a turn choosing a longform thoughtful article to share with the group for the monthly discussion.
Rosary potluck or Holy Hour and game watch
All right, this one isn’t just for the guys, but we all have fun at the monthly family Rosary night followed by a potluck.
Another option for a guys’ night could be meeting up for Mass or a Holy Hour and then moving to another venue to watch sports. I don’t know about you, but my husband is just about always up for attending a game watch!
It can be harder to find ways to get together with friends when it’s so cold out, but hopefully these ideas will give you somewhere to start.
