My Friend in Nevada

I have a friend here in small-town, Nevada that I admire very much. She’s much older than me, and we have very little in common. She’s petite and sweet and very calculated in her words and actions. She has experienced some things in recent years that are pretty devastating, but holds her head high and never shows any outward emotion. Two years ago she lost her husband/business partner to cancer. We didn’t meet until a few months after his death, but I have heard her bravely tell several old business acquaintances of his passing without even the slightest waver in her voice. The year before that she lost her father, also to cancer. This past summer her home burned to the ground as a result of a forest fire. Once again she was outwardly poised and in control. She missed very little work and bravely picked up the pieces, even though the home was a total loss. But after these many months of knowing her, I recently learned of another trial she went through many, many years ago. Something that happens to families, but something I can’t imagine trying to recover from. She had a sister who, in her adult years, took her own life. When my friend told me of this sister, she was less poised, but only slightly. It was as if it were a long-buried secret. I think I masked my shock. I tried to take on her poise as I mumbled a comment or two. But later on as I reflected on past conversations that her and I shared, I realized the great lengths she had taken to leave her sister out of stories and memories. I also remembered countless conversations of me jabbering about my own sisters, whether good or bad, but always missing them due to miles between us. How clumsy I felt, knowing that each of these conversations must have stung. Through her example and through her trials, I am inspired to strive to be poised and calculated and in control. For anyone who knows me, this gives me a lot to work towards.