Seventeen

My baby turned seventeen yesterday.  Of course, he hasn't been a baby for a very long time, and yet, because he is my youngest, I can't help but think of him that way.  Even now.  Even though he is six feet tall, doing math that is far beyond my comprehension, and creating a life in which he is increasingly, and appropriately, independent.  Sometimes it's hard for me to know exactly where my sphere of influence ends these days, when to speak up, when to be quiet and remember that it's time ...