- Olivia Walton: I don't think you should call Grandma "Old Woman".
- 'Grandpa' Zebulon Walton: Well, why not? She'll be 68 on her birthday coming up this Saturday.
- Olivia Walton: That's why not.
- Narrator: [narration as John 'John Boy' Walton, Jr. reading from his journal] Many times when I have tripped across those events in one's life called milestones, I have thought about how they so often catch us unawares. There was, for instance, that unforgettable spring many years ago when, in the same week Grandma had to face growing old, Mary Ellen had to face the feelings of a woman.
- Mary Ellen Walton: [when Olivia asks how she met Kevin Sturgess] Well, I was wading in the lake, just cooling off. I turned around and there he was. Tall and handsome. Sun makin' his hair shine. It was just like a movie!
- Olivia Walton: Sounds like it.
- Mary Ellen Walton: And it all happened so fast! He thinks I'm lots older than I am.
- Olivia Walton: And you didn't bother to correct the impression.
- Mary Ellen Walton: Oh, Mama, I just couldn't! Well, when it was happening, I wasn't 14. 14 is just a kid. Well, I don't really know how to explain it. Well, lots of times lately, I just don't feel like a kid.
- Olivia Walton: I know. Your body's saying one thing and your emotions and experience are sayin' somethin' else and they don't always talk together.
- Mary Ellen Walton: That's right. That's it exactly!