"There's nothing to discuss" barked my husband when I told him that Rosie, our 17-year-old daughter, had asked whether she could go to Kavos, Greece, for a holiday with her friends.
“没什么好讨论的，”我告诉丈夫罗斯伊（我们17岁的女儿）想和朋友们去希腊卡沃斯度假时，他冲我吼道。
"Of course she can't. She's too young to travel without the presence of an adult, It's completely out of the question."
“她当然不能去。她太年轻，不能没有大人在身边就出行，这完全不行。”
So how come I found myself standing, two weeks later, at Gatwick Airport?
但为什么两周后我站在盖特威克机场？
Tearfully, I watched our eldest child disappear through the security checkpoint: In four hours’ time, she would be in Kavos.
我泪眼汪汪地看着我们的长女穿过安检口：四个小时后，她就会到达卡沃斯。
It's 2,500 kilometres away from England!
那离英格兰有2500公里呢！
There comes a time when you have to let your baby go - for many parents, it's around the age of 17.
总有那么一个时刻，你不得不放手让你的孩子独立——对许多父母来说，这通常发生在孩子17岁左右。
We know that there is likely to be something wilder than hanging around by the pool and building sandcastles, but the time has come to trust that they'll look after themselves.
我们知道，可能会发生一些比在泳池边待着、堆沙堡更疯狂的事情，但到了该相信他们能照顾好自己的时候了。
But I still felt worried, Rosie tried to put my mind at rest.
但我依然感到担忧，罗斯伊试图安抚我。
She said she and her friends would always look after one another and that it really, really was all going to be okay.
她说她和朋友们会互相照顾，事情一定会没事的。
After we had waved our last goodbye at the airport, I looked back.
在我们在机场最后一次告别后，我回头望了一眼。
She was, to my surprise, looking back at me, too.
令我吃惊的是，她也在回头看我。
Teenagers want to cut free, but it's a frightening business for them, too.
青少年们想要摆脱束缚，但对他们来说，这也是一件令人害怕的事情。
We made Rosie promise to text as soon as she had arrived in Kavos and at least once a day after that.
我们让罗斯伊答应，一到达卡沃斯就发个短信，之后每天至少发一条。
Around 9 a.m. on the first morning, her first message came through.
第一天早上的9点左右，她的第一条消息发了过来。
It was twelve hours since I had left her at Gatwick, And all I got was: "I'm here."
那时距离我在盖特威克机场送她已经过去了12个小时，收到的只有一句话：“我到了。”
I wish there were safer places than these so-called teen destinations.
我希望有比这些所谓的青少年旅游地更安全的地方。
But like all the dangers that life can hold for them, at some stage, all you can do is warn them, warn them again, warn them once more, and then hope that some of your messages have gotten through.
但就像生活中所有可能存在的危险一样，在某个阶段，你所能做的就是不断警告他们，再警告他们，再警告一次，然后希望你的一些话能传达到他们的心里。
My daughter got home safely, So did her friends,
我的女儿安全回家了，她的朋友们也都平安无事，
But Rosie is now talking about a similar journey next year, And my alarm bells have already started ringing.
但罗斯伊现在又在谈论明年要去类似的旅行，我的警铃已经响了起来。
==
"There's nothing to discuss" barked my husband when I told him that Rosie, our 17-year-old daughter, had asked whether she could go to Kavos, Greece, for a holiday with her friends. "Of course she can't. She's too young to travel without the presence of an adult, It's completely out of the question."
So how come I found myself standing, two weeks later, at Gatwick Airport? Tearfully, I watched our eldest child disappear through the security checkpoint: In four hours’ time, she would be in Kavos. It's 2,500 kilometres away from England!
There comes a time when you have to let your baby go - for many parents, it's around the age of 17. We kmow that there is likely to be something wilder than hanging around by the pool and building sandcastles, but the time has come to trust that they'll look after themselves.
But I still felt worried, Rosie tried to put my mind at rest. She said she and her friends would always look after one another and that it really, really was all going to be okay.
After we had waved our last goodbye at the airport, I looked back, She was, to my surprise, looking back at me, too. Teenagers want to cut free, but it's a frightening business for them, too.
We made Rosie promise to text as soon as she had arrived in Kavos and at least once a day after that, Around 9 a. m. on the first moring, her first message came through. It was twelve hours since I had left her at Gatwick, And all I got was: "I'm here."
I wish there were safer places than these so-called teen destinations. But like all the dangers that life can hold for them, at some stage, all you can do is warn them, warn them again, warn them once more, and then hope that some of your messages have gotten through.
My daughter got home safely, So did her friends, But Rosie is now talking about a similar journey next year, And my alarm bells have already started ringing.