Lately, everywhere I look, someone is posting about cutting off their parents for the kind of stuff you’d expect to trigger an eye roll, not an emotional press release. Blocked over chore charts, birthday gifts, the wrong brand of milk, you name it. It’s like snowflake central but with more hashtags. Meanwhile, parents hitting the block button themselves is not a trend, it’s almost unheard of. That’s what makes this story stand out. This mom stuck around longer than any reasonable person would, waiting for her relatives to remember she exists for something other than emergencies and errands.

After years of surviving her ex’s chaos, this mom is left putting on a brave face while her son floats between parents depending on whose wallet is open and her sister manages to support everyone except the person who actually needs her. The big family party everyone talked about gets held in secret, the guest list gets rewritten, and the only celebration she gets is a quiet dinner and a cake she bought herself.