Today we took F back to school and left her there.

It seems wrong to leave my baby. When she was a toddler she would fall on the grass and look at me, wrinkling her face to cry. I would say, "You're OK!" and she would get up and toddle on. I wanted her to be independent and self-reliant. Now that she's 18 I want to smooth her way. I want to tell all her professors and all her friends that they must be kind to her. I want to make sure every little thing goes right for her. And she's 150 miles away.

I knew this would be hard but it's a lot harder than I expected.