The Biggest Struggles

To My 13-Year-Old Daughter Who Is Pregnant

I’m sorry, little Firefly. I should have protected you from this. I’m your father. I should have done more to steer you away from everything that led you into this place. That was my job, and I didn’t do it right. But I will be here with you, Honey. Mom will be here, too. We will make it through this, and you will be incredible.

Walk! Don’t Run

I heard once that parents worry about their kids as a safeguard, as a deterrent against the calamities that otherwise inevitably befall them. Those poor parents who blithely savor the everyday pleasure of their children without the stain of dread that it will all be gone in the next blink — those people won’t know what hits them when the reckoning arrives. I want to be prepared.