Wow. Not everybody takes it this well. I think it takes an extremely high level of intelligence and conscientiousness to see this as just another of life’s little circumstances and avoid the destructive spiral of emotional fight and flight. Rarely also is this kind of resilience on popular display. We glamorize the brooding victims, the angry fighters, the nihilism, recklessness, and addiction. Having seen this a few times, it begins to look like a comorbidity. Is her resilience something that can be instilled before it’s too late? How do you bring it up? I think about this a lot because it has been such a big part of my life, and my fate is sealed on it staying that way. I think it may have something to do with a belief in a power greater than oneself: god, community, family, the universe, maybe all of the above. But it’s not rational to tell somebody to find a value greater than their own existence. Sure those things are wondrous and beautiful, but death makes it quite impossible to ponder them. And yet, nobody escapes. Sorry for the rambling. Congratulations. My heart sings for you.