We are an eclectic group. If you were to ask each of us how we came to be Round Table Friends, each of us would have a different perspective. The one thing we all have in common is that we live in or near Ocean City, New Jersey. Oh, and one other thing. We all love each other. Round Table Friends are always there for each other.

While we are young at heart, most of us are mature adults. This is not to say we're toddering, or senile, or wearing diapers (yet), but we have raised our kids and some of us have grandkids. Most of us are retired, but some of us continue to work. For a small group, more of us are named Kathy or Cathy or Kathleen than you would expect. Professionally, the nurses in the group outnumber the teachers, and the HR professionals, and the cops, and the photographers, and the surfers, and the beach bums, and the authors, and the artists.

We have collaborated on our history, managing to reach a consensus on how the group got started. We first met in 2004 at the 4th Street Cafe, on the corner of 4th and Atlantic in Ocean City, New Jersey. We still meet every morning at the same address, though the name of the cafe is now Positively 4th Street. The cafe's owners, Sharon and John Szabo, are gracious hosts who serve up faboulous coffees, homemade baked goods and breakfast paninis.

Our friendship began over crossword puzzles...