Lenten Fish Fries and My Dilemma

Lenten fish fries are a typical Catholic tradition. Every Friday during Lent (the six weeks prior to Easter Sunday) members of the Catholic church are required to observe a day of eating no meat. I think many Catholics, if they are honest, will say they forget about this observance. In my family we've always tried to observe this ritual, however, I know that sometimes we've transgressed and forgotten about the no-meat rule. This observance became so much easier to obey several years ago, when our church starting Friday fish fry dinners. It is a nice opportunity to also meet some fellow parishioners and just say hello and introduce ourselves to the same people we see in church every week but who we don't know. So Ed and I started to go to the fish fry every Friday during Lent, and we've been doing this for several years. We've met lots of people and had lots of interesting conversations. The food was never really great, but was a fish fry after all (meaning the fried food and starchy side dishes don't make the healthiest of meals). I could deal with it because the practice of going and meeting people was great. We even went to a fish fry at another church (St. Joseph's in Middletown) two weeks ago just to see what it was like. But last Friday something in me changed-- I walked in the door and the smell of the fish fry just made me nauseous--- and now I just dread the thought of going to another fish fry. However, I will muster up the will because there aren't many weeks left, and Ed really enjoys going so much! Maybe I can count that as my lenten sacrifice.