We've always espoused that the best part of letterboxing, in our opinion, is the friendships made along the way. And Saturday was like the culmination of one of those friendships! Like all good stories, you need the background . . .
In the spring of 2004, Sue & I headed up to southern Maine to a gathering that was being put on by Phyto & Isoceles and Nautilus & Culex. Many of you may not recognize these names since they are not as active as they were once. Besides being friendly with this quartet, the featured guest was a speaker who had been to Dartmoor the previous year and since Sue & I had commited to take the Bakers Dozen to Dartmoor in the fall of 2004, I was anxious to talk in person to the guest after repeated emails back and forth.
I picked the guest's brain after arriving fairly early in Wells, ME and we listened to her discussion with the group during the more formal part of the gathering. Sue & I decided to visit some of the area letterboxes after the discussion and headed to New England College in Biddeford, where Isoceles had a box. After parking our car, we spotted a young couple looking over some clues on the trunk of their car. We introduced ourselves and that was our initial meeting with Tony & Veronica. We ended up spending the rest of the day with them since there was that instant compatibility - you know the feeling, right? You just meet someone and after spending a day with them, you feel like lifelong friends. It was the first of many such friendships we would make in letterboxing but we were only in boxing for 2 years at that point.
During the ensuing years, we met with Tony & Veronica several times a year to box with them or would meet them at a gathering and we'd usually spend the time together. There were always emails going between us even if we didn't see each other as much as we'd like because of conflicting schedules. Fast forward a few years and Tony & Veronica emailed us that they were engaged and he proposed in a hot air balloon. To commemorate that event, he carved a hot air balloon HH that he asked us to place for the first time on our trip out to the Great Lakes gathering. What an honor it was for Sue & I.
The next thing we knew, we received a link to a wedding website for their coming nuptials! We were going to a letterboxing wedding!!! You can imagine our shock when the great day arrived and we discovered that we were the only letterboxers among a very small group of guests. Again, we felt privileged to be asked to such an important and intimate affair.
Well this past Saturday, Sue & I took a ride to East Lyme where we met Tony & Veronica - and their new son, Patrick. Patrick is a 2 year old bundle of joy, energy and all boy rolled into one. As we headed off to find a box, he grabbed Veronica and Sue's hand and I knew we were hooked! This 2 year old is a great boxer! How could he not be with such great parents?!
Funny - we felt like proud grandparents. Yes, Sue & I could be Tony & Veronica's parents if you stretched the issue a bit. Letterboxing friendships know no limits of age, race, etc. It was wonderful seeing our good friends come full circle - from friends, to an engaged couple, to a married couple, to parents. They handled their new parenting skills with grace and poise and a real natural ability. After hugs and goodbyes in the parking lot of Flanders Fish Market in Niantic, Sue & I headed home - content after a nice shore dinner but much more satisfied with seeing good friends entering another great stage in their lives . . .
and so proud and happy to be a part of it! This day was just one of those moments!
