Dear Kid,

I hope you had a great weekend. I know you were spending time with friends and that has a way of making a college weekend better than not spending time with friends.

I spent part of the weekend with friends too (even though I’m not in college).

The big news is that the amazing Girlfriendology is moving closer.

This has the dual advantage of having her not be as far away as well as having her be closer. See how that works out?

So I went over to their new house to help them move in (and by “help them move in” I mean get the grand tour, deliver toys for the puppy, and visit for a few minutes. I am a huge help to my friends.).

Wishing them many happy and healthy years in their new digs.

I also spent some time hanging out with Sue at her community pool before it closes for the season.

Sue’s pool has the distinct advantage of having shaded areas and Sue, so it is a good place to visit on occasion (and by “on occasion” I mean once a year or so). I’m not a huge hanger-outer-at-the-pool these days but it was good to spend some time catching up.

The thing about being friends is knowing when to be blindly loyal to a friend’s POV (Point of View—if you watched enough bad reality TV, you’d know that) and when to share your own.

Sometimes you get luck and they are one and the same.

Like, “There’s that girl with the perfect body and I don’t think she does anything to keep her looks. And she’s really sweet.” “Hate her.” “Exactly.”

It’s why Sue and I are friends.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

I’m off to meet a new friend for coffee this morning.

I love having new friends. I think—as I’ve gotten to this advanced age—that new friends are especially important as we get older.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the friends I’ve had forever. I treasure getting reconnected to them on social media and finding out that we’re living parallel lives in different parts of the country. I love knowing that I have friends that I can talk to in shorthand because they know all my nonsense and silliness and painful baggage.

But I also love having new friends. Finding new people who are doing interesting things in interesting ways and who I want to spend some of my free time getting to know better. Because these are the friends that will eventually know my nonsense and silliness and painful baggage and appreciate me from a different point of view.

Three cheers to different points of view, new friends, and a fresh cup of coffee.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

Today is 513Day!

Really.

It’s May 13^th, 513 is our area code, and the Amazing Debba has created 513Day.

Really, really.

The Mayor is even declaring it (which is pretty nifty).

So, it’s official! May 13th is hereby declared (officially!) ‘513 Day’ in Cincinnati!

You don’t have to be anywhere at a particular time. You don’t have to pay anything. You don’t have to dress up or dress down. You don’t have to train for it. You don’t have to worry about the weather, or carry an umbrella, or wear sunscreen for it.

(You should wear sunscreen. Lots of sunscreen. But it’s not because of 513Day.)

513Day is a day and movement to celebrate the good things happening in the 513 area code area (the whole region, even you Northern 859 Kentucky! – sorry there’s no 59th of August :).

513Day was started by Debba Haupert, founder of Girlfriendology.com – online community for women based on female friendship. The goal is to celebrate the good things about Cincinnati on May 13th and every day between May 13ths.

How (you ask) does one celebrate 513Day?

It’s easy.

Celebrate Cincinnati. Enjoy our town. Flood social media with the hashtag #513Day. LIKE DearKidLoveMom (that’s not 513Day related, but it can’t hurt).

Isn’t it cool to be part of the first ever 513Day?

Love, Mom