I met Francesca Vitolo a little over 4 years ago, while she was a high school senior. Her mother is now one of my closest friends, but our friendship was fairly new when Francesca became an active part of the package. Let me make this a little clearer. I don’t have children, my niece, like the children of my other friends, are in their mid-30s, so bridging a 2-generation gap seemed somewhat daunting to me. when I was a teenager, I’d perceive joining my mother and a friend on a social interlude as more of a punishment than something I’d volunteer to do!