Charles Finster first met Didi Kropotkin on Father's Day 1960. Chas was three years old, while Didi was only six months.

It happened that on that day, their respective fathers, Marvin Finster and Boris Kropotkin, decided to take them on an outing to the circus. Because of the vast age difference of their respective offspring, Chas walked alongside his father, who was holding his hand, while Didi, whose curly red hair was just starting to grow, was being pushed in a stroller by her own father.

Chas has always been a shy person, so Didi was the one who spoke to him: "Hi. I'm Didi. Who are you?"

Upon hearing Didi, Chas turned around and replied, nervously, "M-my name's Charles. But Stu calls me Chas."

"Who's Stu?" asked Didi.

"Stu is my best friend. You should meet him someday. He's a nice baby, but also likes to get into trouble a little too often."

Didi giggled, "Sounds like a very fun baby to be around!"

"Uh, yeah," sighed Chas.

"By the way, Charles," said Didi, "how old are you? I'm nearly six months old."

"Six months? I'm all of three years old!"

"Three years? You're old already!"

"Yeah, but if you want your daddy to take you to visit Stu, I must warn you about Drew. He's also three years old, but he takes advantage of our advanced age to pick on babies like you and Stu."

"Oh, no," shuddered Didi.

Chas replied, "Don't worry, Didi. Stu knows how to deal with Drew better than I do, because he's much braver than me."

Chas and Didi became fast friends.

Once Marvin and Boris had taken Chas and Didi into the tent, they were ready to see the circus. One of the acts had a clown with curly red hair, a big nose, and white face paint, dancing around and laughing out loud. Chas was amused by the clown, but poor little Didi certainly wasn't. Instead, she was so terrified of the clown that she began to cry loudly. When Chas heard Didi's cries, he felt sorry for her and didn't know what to do.

But the clown went straight to Didi and tried to reassure her, "Look, little girl. It's just an act. Make-up. Under this freak show, I'm a regular guy, just like your daddy."

Didi turned around and saw her father staring at her.

But baby Didi was not at all comforted. She seemed to think that her father was also a clown in disguise, so she cried even harder!

As Boris tried his best to comfort his infant daughter, Chas burst into tears as well, to the surprise and embarrassment of his own father Marvin.

"What's wrong, slugger?" asked Marvin.

"I wanna go home!" sobbed Chas.

And Boris said to Marvin, "Maybe the kinderlach are right. Maybe we'd better go."

"But we haven't even seen the elephant!" groaned Marvin as he and Boris stood and left with their respective children.

As Boris saw a pile of elephant plop on the ground, he replied, "Actually, I've seen quite a bit of the elephant myself."

Once Marvin and Boris went to the former's car with their squalling babies, they decided to go homeward, with Marvin driving.

"I'm glad we left with the kinderlach," said Boris. "That circus was almost as unsanitary as our farm in the old country!"

"Horse hockey!" Marvin protested. "Circuses are an American institution! They're part of growing up. Kids love the circus."

But in the back seat, Didi said to Chas, "I hate the circus! It's so unsanitary!"

Chas replied, "Didi, it's all over now. You can put it all behind you."

"Phew!" sighed Didi. "Thanks for bailing me out back there, Charles. I felt really stupid crying all by myself."

Her new friend Chas replied, "Don't mention it."

"You're like a big brother to me."

"And you the little sister I never got."

Chas and Didi would remain good friends, like brother and sister, ever since.