Tyrades! What would you love to tell your younger self?

A handful of longtime readers may remember when I announced that “baby boy Tyree” was on his way.

Time flies. My only child Gideon recently celebrated his 18th birthday.

Ah, 18: an unrefrigerated casserole of freedoms, responsibilities, hopes, fears and life-or-death decisions.

My wife and I have been dribbling out bits of school-of-hard-knocks advice for Gideon all along, so I don’t have any showstopping pronouncements to share with him this week; but I will seize upon Gideon’s milestone as a springboard for one of those corny “What advice would I give my younger self?” essays.

I haven’t accu...