Turning 18 is a red letter day in the life of any young Fifer.
There’s the party to plan, and inevitable first (legal) drink to be ordered in a pub.
So getting the key to the door can open up an exciting vista to your future.
The world’s your oyster – or so it feels.
You could get a tattoo or a commercial pilot’s licence.
Or probably lower down the to-do list would be standing for political office, or appearing as a juror.
Probably most young people at that age already have a pretty good idea of what the next few years will hold and may be packing up for university or starting training or work.
It may be a long time ago, but I can still – dimly – remember the flurry of 18th birthday parties, the farewell to sixth year, and the thoughts of becoming a reporter.
But imagine for a moment you have to make a bigger decision.
One that will not only shape the rest of your life, but could hover, like Banquo’s ghost at the banquet, over your every breathing moment.
That is the predicament for one 17-year-old Fifer who, mature beyond his years, is at this minute weighing up what to do.
Cameron Newport has seen his granddad die from Huntington’s Disease.
He has watched his mum Wendy deteriorate from the same genetic condition. Now only 43 she is in a care home.
Huntington’s is incurable.
And Cameron, who hopes to study politics or history at university, knows he has a 50:50 chance of inheriting it.
Those at risk can only be genetically tested once they are 18, and even then with counselling beforehand.
As Cameron said he thought he would want the test, but now as it approaches he’s not sure and wonders how he could live with such an earth shattering diagnosis.
It’s something few of us at whatever age we are would want to even contemplate.
Sometimes young people get a bad press, and they are only hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
But maybe all of us should stop and think about young Cameron, and those like him, who may be going through unimaginable fears and facing them with courage and dignity.
