Growing up

June 16, 2023, Friday night, 7:22pm, pacific standard time, apartment in Dana Point, California, USA. Today feels like the day my daughter became an adult. She wanted to go to the movie alone. It was a 3:45pm show at a local theater and it was an animated Disney movie. The situation seemed safe. Yet she didn’t come out when the movie ended at 5:30pm. My mind pictured worst case scenarios. I texted and called. Finally, she emerged 15 minutes later. I don’t know why she was late and I was too upset to ask. Last week her and her friend were cagey about buying stuff with my credit card and trying to hide it. On one hand I want to give her freedom to explore the world. But on the other hand I worry about the things she doesn’t realize can harm her.