My youngest son, Geoff is leaving tonight to spend 5 days in NYC.  Without me.  Without another adult.  Unless you count his 18-year-old friend as an adult, which we know the military does but the bars don’t.  This will be his first solo trip.  Maybe because he’s my youngest, I tend to think of him as being younger than 17.  But, he is smart, capable, mature–and ready.

Geoff having T1D (Type 1 Diabetes) puts another hurdle on my path to having piece of mind.  I have taken care of Geoff’s diabetes since he was 20 months old.  Over time, we’ve shifted some responsibility to him, but I have always been there, somewhere in the background, just in case.  He will be responsible for keeping his blood sugars in check by poking his finger and getting a blood glucose reading, counting carbohydrates, bolusing insulin with his pump, keeping his pump reservoir full of insulin and the catheter securely inserted under his skin.  And, he has to remember to have an immediate source of sugar with him.  If his blood sugar goes too low, he will become disoriented, not be able to help himself and perhaps even become unconscious.  His traveling partner will get my lecture about looking out for certain things and helping to make sure all is okay with Geoff.  I think he’ll want to help.

I will likely text Geoff more than he would like and call him when he will ignore my call.  If he’s like I was at that age, he will also have some experiences he won’t share with me.  At least until he’s in his 30’s.  And that’s the way it should be.