When I was 17 I was friends with a family with a pair of daughters. I spoke to the girls but was talking to my friend’s kids. I did things with the family, like goofy golf and church parties and the like. One day the older girl said “Hey! It’s my birthday!” I asked her “ How old? 16? 17?” She answered, “No, thirteen.” I was rattled.6 years later after not seeing the family much at all I married her. That was 55 years ago. Still together.
Our granddaughter is a real beauty and always looked older than her age when she was in her teens.
One time she was flying back cross-country after visiting us and had a 3 hour layover on the trip. She was sitting outside the gate reading a book and a young military guy in fatigues sat down by her and started talking. She said they talked for over an hour about movies, music, etc. until finally he looked at her really close and asked, “How old are you?”.
She looked at him with a big smile on her face and said, “Fourteen!”.
She said he was just gone. He didn’t say goodbye or anything. He was just gone.
If you saw a photo of her at 14, you’d swear she was at least 18. Partially from the way she looked but also the way she acted. Never was the giddy/giggily schoolgirl type.
She’s 30 now and finishing up her Masters in Clinical Psychology. A really great kid.