I Watched My Teen Son Grow Into A Man In A Split Second

I watched my son become a man in a split second.

Andrew was fifteen years old and, at this point and time, the thing that defined our relationship was snack wrappers. It’s embarrassing to admit how much of our daily interaction revolved around his wrappers discarded around the house, and me telling him to pick them up.

Even when he had been in his bedroom for hours, I always knew the exact position on the living room couch he had been on earlier that day, because the empty wrappers outlined t...