Melissa and I like to take walks together. She strolls along with me, and asks me what I'd like to talk about. "Do you want to hear what I gave my friends at school today?" or "Do you want to know what my characters are doing in my comics?" Of course, anything she wants to discuss is fine with me. I love to hear her talk to me, remembering the days when she didn't want to share her words with us. She is a very entertaining companion. Her descriptions are colorful and vivid. She recently gave me a printout of a long dramatic tale she'd written entitled "Vampire Romance" (a very teen story) in which she introduced a character, "Prince Joe", who was described as "charmless." I liked this. I've decided that is a good word to use for a lot of nasty people in the world. Speaking of charm, reminded Melissa of when she went with her big sister and I to see "The Princess Bride" on the big screen. Of course we all have seen it a million times, but it was much more fun to see as it was meant to be seen, loud, with popcorn and licorice. So, on our walk, Melissa and I talk about charmless Prince Joe, and she flawlessly recites lines from the movie. "That Vizzini, he can *fuss*." "I think he like to scream at *us*." "Probably he means no *harm*." "He's really very short on *charm*." She laughs, and the light in her eyes fills my heart with happiness.
