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Dear Carolyn • Back in February, my little sister was very unexpectedly dumped by her boyfriend of three years, just three months prior to their wedding. This has led to some behavioral changes (drinking, random encounters with men) that, while not unusual among women her age, are extremely out of the ordinary for her. Prior to this, she had been an extremely "together" person — definitely the golden child between the two of us. At what point do we sit her down and gently tell her it might be time to snap out of it? In other words, how long do we give her to figure things out before starting to worry there's been long-term emotional damage? I know there's no bright line on this, but just wondering at what point somebody should step in and give some firm advice.
Broken Engagement
Dear Broken Engagement • If the long-term emotional damage is severe, then use a prescription-strength "Snap out of it." (Face rub.) You seem unaccustomed to having people wander off the sanctioned path in your family. You also seem to be testing the idea that your sister is overreacting to the breakup, bad as it was. I believe, though, that this was much more than a breakup for your sister, and that you're under-reacting to her crisis — one she's having because this is all so new to friends and family. "Golden" children tend to live by a do-what-I'm-supposed-to model of behavior, gradually forming an expectation that this will result in the life they're supposed to have. When instead these exemplary choices send them into a publicly humiliating ditch, often the next place they find themselves is smack in the middle of a major existential crisis. That's especially true if her sense of self derived from her golden status. Getting dumped challenged the validity of that definition of herself. She needs you to recognize that you all mistook her good behavior for emotional maturity — and that she has to find her own way back to making good decisions for her own, internal reasons instead of the old, external ones. Loving her for who she is, versus what she accomplishes, is the best map you can possibly give her for this difficult road ahead.
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