Thanks. One of the biggest reasons to read and write is to share stories that lift us out of our limited consciousness. That’s why I wrote about you. You’re coming from a place that I never experienced, but one that scared me to death when my sons were growing up.

As a parent, you watch your babies turn into children and then there is this turning point where they start to become separate people. And you can’t protect them any more. And you worry about drugs, or driving drunk, or running away from home, or hanging with dangerous people, or drive by shootings, or vicious bullying, or suicide.

I know as someone who survived long enough to have kids and get old that breaking up with your high school girlfriend is not a good reason to kill yourself. Especially since the relationship only lasted a month. But your kid is going through these incredibly intense emotions and has no frame of reference. They can’t look beyond their nose to see that this has happened to pretty much everyone in the world, but has somehow gone on living.

And you can’t teach them to learn from your own mistakes.

How old are your kids? I hope I didn’t just scare the sh*t out of you. But you’ve got to be prepared as a parent.