My 19-year-old moved across the country with 4 days’ notice. What he packed made it easier to let him go.

My oldest son was my only child for three years. I think that built a bond that doesn’t exist with any of his four siblings who had to share me from day one with an expanding brood of children.

I can honestly say, I do not have a favorite child, but it was this oldest one who taught me how to be a mother. That included how to let go when the time came.

At the age of 19 after an inauspicious start to college, he moved cross-country to San Francisco, a frequent transition for kids who grow up in Boston.

Since he was the first of my five to depart home, it hit me pretty hard; but it was clear he needed a change and I willingly co-signed his…