The Risks of Parenthood

Admit it: Having a baby is a crap shoot. You don't know what you'll get. If it's healthy at birth with all limbs and organs in the right place, you can breathe a sigh of relief -- at least for a while. Pretty soon all the other stuff shows up: can it talk, does it smile, can it see and hear? Yes? Okay, time to celebrate!

But what if 22 years later your perfect baby turns out to be the killer of Charlie Kirk? How did that happen? The young man's father is the one who turned him in, and that's understandable -- he made the creature. I cannot imagine the Hell this young man's parents now occupy and will occupy for the rest of their lives, wondering what they did wrong and when they did it. Surely there was something.

I thank God, as I have since the day he was born, that my only offspring is kind, thoughtful, intelligent and empathetic, with all his limbs and organs in the right place and with a sense of humor as a bonus. Maybe my husband and I did something right after all.