I think it’s a real sign of age when your conversations include more ‘And how’s your Mum/Brother/Girlfriend?’
I think what precedes this question is always a lull in the conversation where a certain topic has run its course.
I think it’s a sign of disconnect, you haven’t seen them in a while (typical of aging friendships) and an adult who has learnt the polite inquiries.
It’s nice to ask about the partner or the kids.
Whether as back in the glory days of secondary school or college you saw your friends so often you just launched straight into a fun free flowing conversation.
You didn’t have to ask because you were getting the updates in real-time and you hadn’t learned adult etiquette yet.
Plus you had so little responsibilities that you could be silly more often.
Thomas Duggan 