With the last bag of laundry successfully removed from my parents' car, we took one more trip up the steps to my new dorm.
My father, mother and I silently looked around the room. It was getting late in the afternoon. I suggested they could stay a little longer and help me unpack.
Graciously, they said, "no," and years later they told me Mom had been about to lose it. So they drove the hour back to Buffalo and left me in this strange city with this strange life, hoping they taught me everything I needed to know.
I'm told every parent feels that momentary doubt, a flash where he or she begins to wonder if they covered everything important in 18 years — and if they didn't, how will that child learn?
It happened to Eric Rosoff, a 31-year veteran of the Burbank Police Department.
Before his daughter left home for Loyola Marymount University, he went over some basic safety rules — never walk around on a campus looking at your cellphone instead of your surroundings, always know where the exits are in case of an emergency.…