Troubled Teenage Perspective

Raising a teenager is really difficult these days.. trust me.. I know what I am talking about! Even so this story titled: Teenager Admits to Trying to Have His Mother Killed caught me by surprise. Here is the intro to the story:

A Southern Maryland teenager admitted in court yesterday that he tried to hire a hit man to kill his mother, a plea that his parents said is the first step toward having a family relationship with him again.

Cory Ryder, 17, said little as St. Mary's County Circuit Court Judge Michael Stamm asked whether he understood the accusations against him. "Yes, sir," he said quietly as his mother, stepfather and several relatives sat behind him.

Ryder didn't look their way, but after his plea, his attorney asked the judge if his client could speak alone with his mother. Stamm agreed, and Ryder's mother was led to a small room. She spoke with Ryder for about 35 minutes. It was the first time Shannan Troiano had faced her son, other than seeing him in court hearings, since before his arrest in early June.

As their talk came to an end, Troiano later said, she hugged her son as he sat in handcuffs and shackles. Troiano walked back into the courtroom, burying her head in deep sobs into her husband Joey's arms for nearly two minutes. "I didn't want to let go," she told him.

What can you do but cry with this distraught mom. It would be easy (and cruel) to judge her.. second guessing her parenting skills and somehow projecting blame on her. For now, maybe we can just allow ourselves to be touched by her tears.