There are two distinct groups of people.

Group One: Invite them to a party or a confirmation or a wedding and even though it is held in Timbuktu (exaggeration) they will attend or die trying to get there.

Group Two: Invite them to a party, confirmation or wedding, even next door, and you will hear more excuses why they can't make it, than George Steinbrenner utters when the NY Yankees don't win the World Series.

Since Lorraine, my wife, and I are avid Group Oners, we don't really have much patience for the Group Twoers. We utter our motto, "Invite us and we will come!" This usually leads to long airline flights and the expenditure of many hard-earned dollars. But, duty calls!

It smacks of the famous New York State Lottery motto, "You can't win it, if you're not in it!" We traveled to San Francisco, CA for the Irish wedding of Peter and Theresa Grennan. It was a weekend of sheer joy. The singing and dancing at the City by the Bay will never be forgotten. It is even more memorable now that they have that beautiful baby.

Last year we flew to Memphis, TN for a Bar Mitzvah. We learned how they do it down South. It was so gracious and we were treated to real "Hebrew Southern Hospitality." While there we took a wonderful side trip to Elvis Presley's Graceland home.

Stopping the mail and the newspapers is just a start. Packing and unpacking is still not a lot of fun. Going to and from airports and taking your shoes off and emptying your pockets is anything but a pleasant and rewarding way to get someplace.

But, "You can't win it if you're not in it!" still holds true. Complain if you must, but just GO!

Last weekend we flew to Memphis again. We went because our good friends, Maggie and Marty Silver invited us. We know that they would make every effort to come, when it is our turn to invite them to a distant "Port of Call."

This column was written at 38,000 feet in the air, en route to Memphis, TN.