A few weeks before a family BBQ, she confided in me that she was feeling completely overwhelmed — with school, with her body, with friends who were suddenly cold or distant. She said she felt like she was ’drowning and no one noticed.’ She did tell her mom eventually — she was scared, and hoped for comfort.But instead of protecting that moment, Linda turned it into a Facebook post. A long, dramatic one, full of personal details: her slipping grades, her panic attacks, all that. She titled it, ’My Teen Is Struggling, and I’m at a Loss — Parenting Is Harder Than Ever.’ She didn’t ask Emily before posting. And the post went viral. Strangers commented, praising Linda’s ’raw honesty.’ Some offered parenting advice, others shared their own stories. But Emily?

She was humiliated. Kids at school recognized her, even though her name wasn’t mentioned. She shut down. She stopped eating lunch at school, barely spoke at home, and started skipping our weekly walks.”“However, a few days ago, everything exploded for the worse. At a family BBQ, Linda mocked me again. This time she said that my life ’is empty’ and ’I’d regret it when there’s no one to visit me in the nursing home.’ Her comment was so nasty, so venomous. I just could not stay out of it, could not stay silent. I brought up what she had done to her daughter in front of everyone. I looked directly at Linda and said, ’Not everyone needs kids to feel fulfilled or uses their child for attention.’ She turned pale. Dead silence fell over the table. Then she got up, muttered something about me ’crossing a line,’ and left.”