She looked up at him from the book. The fact that he was asking her for advice surprised her. She was accustomed to people discounting her opinion out of hand because of her youth, and she smiled fondly at him as the realization set in that he thought what she had to say might be worth listening to.
"Oh, honey, I gotta remind myself each day that it don't matter. See, you can't control what other people think. You can do every single thing right, and they still might think wrong of you. You can be the worst person walking the earth, and everyone might love you still. Life, it ain't about what people think, and you can't let it be," she said, then added softly, "but it ain't easy."
She paused, looked at him. "How important is it, whatever it is that's got you worried?"