Our old friends Gary and Evelyn just had the most wonderful vacation of their lives. For three weeks they were waited on, fussed over, pampered and coddled. Every meal was a production, every day there was an excursion to some new scenic spot. They saw every lake, river, ocean, canal, waterfall, canyon, mountain, valley, mansion, garden vista and view possible. They’ve never had so much fun. But all good things must come to an end. The vacation is over, they have finally left our house and gone back home.

Sue and I thought they would never leave. Years ago, when we were all much younger, they were bright young things – clever, witty, lots of fun to be with. Now Gary is so hard of hearing, you have to say everything six times, louder each time until he finally misunderstands you. Evelyn is used to this, we are not. They are retired, we are not. We get up at seven. They get up at nine. We go to bed at 11, they go to bed at one. We eat meat, she does not. We drink beer, they like wine. We like regular coffee, they drink Sanka. We like to read, they like to talk. We are calm, they are tense.