Apparently they had been thinking about it, too. We knocked on the door. They opened it. US: Wow, how long has it been?! THEM: 17 years! Trish and Jim hadn’t changed a bit. And, of course, neither had we.
We all lived in the same small, socially active neighborhood in Connecticut for about 12 years. They moved away to South Carolina at about the same time we moved to Vermont. Although we’ve stayed in touch that whole time, and we did try to meet up, it did indeed take 17 years to get together live.
We just picked up the conversation where we left off, getting each other caught up on comings, goings, travels and retirement. And then Trish and Jim packed quite a few local treats into a short visit, took us for delightful walks through the community and around one of the golf courses (they live in a golf community allowing ample time for their favorite sport). One of our dinners was to a fresh fish place that specialized in low-country boil – a traditional South Carolina community dinner featuring potatoes, corn, sausage and shellfish all boiled up together (although you don’t have to eat the sausage).
Nice day for a polo match 
Play by play from the umpire
After visiting the historic sections and downtown Aiken, Trish and Jim brought us to our first polo match – beautiful, small, powerful horses being ridden by athletes able to convince them to turn on a dime while a hard ball is being whacked around their ankles by a long mallet. About half way through the first chukka (period), we were asking each other about the rules. Um, don’t know much about ’em. Let’s ask around… Turns out the guy on the tailgate next to ours was a polo umpire and loved to share his knowledge. Awesome!
Loved our visit! Hope we don’t have to wait 17 years until the next…