My story is similiar to Wanderer’s…I lived in Houston in the 80’s and my earliest session experiences there were less than memorable (at that time the session rotated between the Red Lion and Keneally’s).
I moved to Ontario in 1988 and found a nice friendly session in Guelph. I have since moved around the province several times, and a lot of those same folks who attended the now-defunct Guelph sessions, like myself, regularly attend a session in Stratford. Like a lot of people, I find that although I attend sessions primarily for the music, I also enjoy going because they are an opportunity to play and talk with old friends.
My two closest friends are folks I met at the Guelph session. One now lives in Calgary and we talk on the phone weekly, and make it a point to get together once a year to play tunes. This is a significant part of what makes the trad music thing so important to me, anyway.
I have to stop now, 'cause I’m getting too sentimental. 
