How To Launch Your 22-Year-Old Daughter in Seven Days

Have your daughter fill your car with all her belongings the day after her college graduation in June so she can drive home to Minnesota. Be prepared to rescue her when the car catches on fire somewhere in rural Georgia and everything in it—except her, her cell phone, and her best friend—is consumed by flames.

Be grateful for all the people who stop to help them, and be at peace with the fact that you will never learn how the fire started. Look on the bright side: there’s less to move to Los...