Life, death, leather jackets and my favorite Friends episodes

Here are my top three favorite Friends episodes, in reverse order.

Number 3. “The One Where No One’s Ready”

This is the episode in which Ross is getting some sort of science award and is anxious to get to the ceremony and all the other Friends are stalling and distracted. This includes the scene where Joey puts on everything in Chandler’s closet (“I’m Chandler. Could I BE wearing any more clothes?!?!?”) and where Ross is willing to drink a glass full of cooking fat in order to prove to Rachel how important it is that she attend the event (“You were going to drink the fat!”).

Number 2. “The One With The Embryos”

In this one, Phoebe decides that she will be the surrogate mother for her brother and his wife. But the part that gets me is when Joey and Chandler prove that they know Rachel and Monica better than they know them via a gameshow-style quiz put together by Ross. The guys prove that they are correct and win the right to switch apartments with Rachel and Monica. (“Actually it’s Miss Chanandler Bong!”)

Number 1: “The One With The Prom Video”

As the title so accurately states, this is the episode where the Friends watch an old VHS tape of Monica and Rachel getting ready for their high school prom. After a few jokes at Monica’s expense and a deep-dive into Ross’s nascent keyboard career, the turning point comes when it appears that Rachel’s date is going to stand her up. Encouraged by his father, played beautifully by Elliot Gould, Ross - who already had a huge crush on Rachel - puts on a tuxedo and steps in to save the day. As he’s about to walk down the stairs to make his grand entrance, we spot that Rachel’s date has ultimately shown up as they excitedly leave for the prom leaving a dejected Ross behind.

This is the first time that modern-day Rachel finds out about Ross’ gallant actions and walks up to him and kisses him. Sealing the start of their relationship which the series had been teasing for some time.

We end with Phoebe, referencing an early conversation about how lobsters mate for life, declaring “he’s her lobster!”.

Matthew Perry passed away earlier this week. He played the aforementioned Chandler, one of the most beloved of all the “Friends”.

But you already knew that.

You could almost hear the audible gasp spread across the country as people woke up to the tragic news that Perry died from drowning in his at-home hot tub. The circumstances that led to the drowning are still unclear.

Perry publicly struggled with addiction for most of his adult life. Very visible swings in his appearance happened so quickly - he seemingly gained and lost 40lbs in a matter of weeks depending on where he was in his addiction cycle - which made it nearly impossible for him to battle his demons privately.

He wrote a book last year detailing these battles in an effort to help other people understand the challenges and the required actions and support necessary to, as he had at least of the time being, overcome them.

He even states in the book that when all is said and done he will undoubtedly be remembered foremost for his role as Chandler but his hope that his legacy would be that he helped addicts in need.

I didn’t expect the outpouring of grief, social media posts and reminiscences of Perry to be so sustaining and prevalent this past week but, thinking about it, it makes sense.

Friends was a huge show for people in my generation and, thanks to Nick At Nite and Netflix rerunning the show incessantly, subsequent generations as well.

For all of us it was as if that sweet, ever-goofy friend with a heart of gold we all grew up with passed away. A bit of innocence lost.

Perhaps I’m subconsciously concerned about death. It tends to show up in these weekly babbles more than I realize. I’m not sure why that is, but I’m paying attention to it.

I’ve got a leather jacket hanging up in my hall closet. I had my eye on it for a while and my wife and mother-in-law surprised me with it as a joint Hanukkah gift probably 15 years ago.

It was, by far, the most expensive piece of clothing that I owned and that made me irrationally scared to wear it.

I’d break it out for an outdoor holiday photo shoot or on a special anniversary date night with my wife. I’ve probably worn it 20 times in those 15 years.

But this Fall I’ve been taking it out of the closet. Wearing it for no particular reason at all outside the fact that I still love it.

It’s cliche to admit that life is short. And perhaps only slightly less cliche that there is no better time than now to start living your life and enjoying the things in it.

But cliches are cliche for a reason. They tend to hold indisputable and timeless wisdom inside of them.

The type of wisdom that you are confronted with on rare occasions. Like when a friend, real or imagined, is no longer around to make you think or laugh.

I’m sorry that this week’s post had nothing to do with training.

I'd love to hear which episode of "Friends" was your favorite, if you have one. Hit reply and let me know!