“Hey, Ed; how old are you, anyway?” Soon after we were introduced as Reading Buddies in the Boys and Girls Club’s new mentoring program through Mobius, Richard asked me that question. At least that day at the Club I was clearly an outlier demographic, and I didn’t need Richard’s reminder! Especially after he pointed out that I’m “two of my friend Tom’s mentor.” Generations aside, we’ve dug in to Charlotte’s Web after he informed me that I was “looking at a boy who’s been to a farm and really likes animals.” Richard is 10, attends the local Integrated Arts Academy Elementary School, and prefers to take notes by drawing creative and expressive sketches rather than writing words. He struggles a bit with reading, but is an enthusiastic and engaged listener with an impressive auditory memory, able to recount nearly every detail of what we read last week. We’ve had only two sessions, but this is clearly fun for both of us. So far the pattern is read, play a game or draw together, read. He enjoys taking me around the Club as he greets the staff and others with a first name familiarity that left me asking him, “Are you the mayor here?” We’re working out the details of our buddy system, but I can see why people have encouraged me to be a mentor.