Ignoring what I think you intended your article to be about....

I'm 68 and have struggled to be as thin as possible my whole adult life. When I was still young and dependant, my Mom decided I was too fat (I wasn't) and her misguided views and her ignorance about my body are a big part of why I'm fat.


I feel ambivalent about my mother now as a result. If she had kept her feelings to herself I'd reflect on my memories of her as strictly loving.

You have no idea of the harm your neighbors could cause their daughter to be intrusive with her concerning her weight gain. Believe it or not, she knows.

Do you think fat people are clueless about our own bodies?

Their daughter should feel their love and support not that they feel entitled to make decisions about her body. This is 100% her struggle (or non struggle) and not theirs.

Back to the theme of your piece:

I wonder about the couple in question, maybe they are hoping that being able to pay funeral or burial expenses for their daughter will allow them to feel better.

Grief is very complicated. Either they will grieve as others do or in their own way, money will never change the fact that their daughter is dead. Once these young people are more mature, hopefully, they will either understand that their baby was too young to handle the temps that day OR that they were being selfish and gross to go boating on that very hot day.

Maybe they were clueless, stupid, had no business ever having a child or maybe they were homicidal. I still wouldn't presume to know their motivations. Unless I could ask them.

It sounds like they are dumb but maybe neither of them had good parenting role models.

It's always fairer to reserve judgments to judges.

Are you sure they set up the GoFundMe for themselves? Sometimes it's well meaning family or friends who want to help.

In general, things are in a constant state of flux in our human societies. If you cling too hard to the ways things used to be you are at risk of just experiencing life from one side.

As an old fart, I know that money isn't as important as a lot of people think. Having money now when I used to not have enough has given me this wisdom.

I suppose I want to go with empathy for these people. Their kid is dead. Do you really think neither of them has thought "if only"? For a young person to consider a lifetime of having your mind drift over to that "if only" thought is sobering to think of. Hard. Poignant.