My Parents Hovered, but They Weren’t Helicopters

Image courtesy of creative commons license By: Iqbal Osman – CC BY 2.0 via flickr.com

When I was growing up, I thought of my parents as being strict. I never thought of their rules as being anything but what they were, except when I turned sixteen. Then I thought the rules were a bit outlandish.

First off, I was never allowed to go somewhere alone, except if I was in a direct route to a particular destination, such as a friend’s house. My parents would know when I was leaving to go there and...