'When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.'

I attended a funeral yesterday, and it reminded me of an experience I had when I was 17. 

A friend had died overnight in our dorm, and his girlfriend had come screaming down the corridor. My girlfriend and I rushed to see what was going on, and we called the ambulance, comforted her, calmed her, made her eat, helped with this or that necessity, called people, controlled access, helped his friends into the building, answered questions from others in the corridor, calmed, comforted, made her eat … did all of that stuff that one does to be strong for another.

And when night fell, and our friend had gone to sleep, my girlfriend and I crawled into bed together and collapsed into a heap of tears and emotion.

Perhaps strength is a mask sometimes –


Photo: Monash University