High school senior Adriana Rodriguez has been battling an eating disorder since she was in eighth grade.

It’s hard for many teenagers to explain what they are feeling to their parents. But for Adriana, there was another gap in understanding when she tried to explain it to her mom, who grew up in the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez and her mom had a different understanding of what an eating disorder is. Even though she had heard her aunt and mom talking about dieting and body shapers as she grew up, her mom only understood eating disorders when they got really serious.

After years of living together and sharing meals and conversations, Adriana and her mom started to close the gap of understanding and have come to a new realization about their shared experience.

Featured Image: Courtesy of Adriana Rodriguez