On the way back to Ithaca from a delightful Mother's Day jaunt, I stopped to visit an old friend from camp who lives with his family near Middletown, and so only about 15 minutes off my usual route home. I spent about an hour chatting with him and his wife, and got to meet their three kids, too.

Facebook already had me aware that Andrew has hardly changed in the years since I last saw him. He said beeeej and I are instantly recognizable, too. I'm sure if we dug up pictures from the camp days, it would be more obvious how much we've all aged, but he really does pretty much look just as I remembered him.

We've been "in touch" through Facebook for years, but Mark's sudden death last month was a sharp reminder that we should do more. I think I've convinced Andrew and Lisa that they should visit Ithaca once in a while (Andrew's an IC alum, and I last saw him when we were still college students, I guess) if for no other reason than to hit the wine trail, breweries, and distilleries in the area. Of course, before long they'll be on the college road trip circuit with their oldest.

Perhaps craziest of all is the knowledge that Andrew, who's been an EMT and instructor for FDNY for pretty much his whole professional life, is due to retire in about three years. I can't even conceive of retirement yet. I suppose I'd be happy to not have to work, but there's no way I'm ready for the golf course.