I'd been away for a few days from someone I interact with daily, someone you have casual conversations with, exchange a quick joke now and then, and then it was off to work. When I saw her again, I asked where she'd been during her absence, and before I'd even strung two sentences together, she burst into tears to explain the turmoil caused by her increasingly dependent mother. She loves her unconditionally, but she's realized that if she doesn't create some physical and emotional distance, she'll suffocate—a conclusion she reached after several pangs of guilt, not without a heavy burden of responsibility as a daughter (more tears), but one she no longer questions for an obvious reason. Anyone who's been through it knows it's a terrible time in adulthood, because everyone involved suffers, because the burden of care often falls on women, and because the outcome is predetermined and not a happy one.
That personal and emotional confession between supporting characters in our respective films touched me deeply and made me think about the countless stories that could lie behind a simple "How are you?" It was just a brief, standing conversation, but letting it all out and verbalizing that she, too, needed to live did her good. And it confirmed for me that, deep down, everyone carries a "fragile" label, but we build our hearts because we can't afford to fall apart.
