Charlie: Some diner. It was awesome. The best burger. It came with this side plate of a ton of stuff you could pile onto your burger. Like a whole salad, really, on your burger. And I had a hot chocolate.

Cassie: What did ya talk about?

Charlie: Life.

Cassie: Life?

Charlie: Life experiences. You know, stuff.

Cassie: Did you talk about what a great mother I am?

Charlie: Umm…no.

Cassie: Did you talk about what a bad mother I am?

Charlie: No. You didn’t really come up.

Cassie: Great.

Charlie: It wasn’t about you, Mom. It was about ME and MY life. It was separate.

Cassie: Did you talk about music?

Charlie: Of course. She gave me these amazing comics from East Side Comics and two CDs that she and J made just for me — of all the music they like the best. Sometimes she and J couldn’t decide which ones to put on the CD, she said.

Cassie: Now that’s cool.

Charlie: I know it. We also talked about the trouble our pets get into. P, her cat, thinks he’s so tough and he has these macho fights with other animals.

Cassie: Yea. P is a tough cat. Not afraid of anything. Could kill a dog if he wanted to.

Charlie: I told her all about how Simone swallowed the dog toy…the whole drama. M is so cool I can hardly tell she’s a mother. You know what I mean? Is that what happens, your kids get older and then the mother becomes cool all over again?

Cassie: I don’t know. It could be.

Charlie: You have a long way to go before Gigi’s a grown up.

Cassie: So, a long way before my cool can come back?

Charlie: Yea.

Cassie: The price I pay for being a mother of four kids, I guess. Well, I’m really glad you got some special time alone, just you, to talk about life with one of your coolest adult friends. You deserve it.

Charlie: I know, right? I love to talk about things and do jokes and tell funny stories. M really listens. She doesn’t get tired of my jokes. Ever.

Cassie: She IS the best…and the coolest, and I know she adores you. She’ll probably want to visit with you again soon.

Charlie: Yea. We’re going to go see a movie some time. Probably PG-13.

Cassie: Okay, then.

Charlie: Okay, good.