An Evening Drive

If you could catch fatherhood in a bottle, it would be filled with moments like these

- Joe Posnanski

SHE’S 14 NOW, A TURBULENT AGE. Everyone warned us. There will be times when she’s still your little girl, they said. And there will be other times when she lashes out with such fury, you will wonder where everything went wrong. Every one warned us, and we believed them. We had planning sessions about the future, talks about patience and openness and firmness when needed.

We were ready. We weren’t ready.

Elite athletes will tell you that in their first professional game, everything moves so impossibly fast that there is no possible way to prepare for the speed and fury and violence of it all.

We were ready. We weren’t ready.

She gets into the car. It is nighttime, and I’m picking her up from an activity, and she is happy. She used to always be happy. Now it’s a 50-50 proposition. She shows me a picture she wants to post on Instagram of her and a friend. She asks if it’s OK. I tell her it’s OK. I don’t know if it’s OK; I’m trying hard to keep up with the rules. She is happy.