DD and I both agree that, sometimes, it’s easier to pretend that nothing happened. You can’t actually pretend that nothing happened; there is just no getting away from it. But when people come up to you (say, at a baseball game), and they have no idea what you’ve just been through, it is just easier to leave the dying part out.
“Hey, Julie. It’s so good to see you again. What have you been up to?”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
“Have you run any more marathons?”
“No. I got injured at the end of last year and had to take a few months off of running. These past few months, I’ve just been really busy.”
It’s not exactly lying, but it certainly isn’t telling the truth. Hopefully, when they find out from someone else, they will understand that it was easier to play it off than to tell the story again and risk crying at YaYa’s baseball game.
I’ve done it twice so far. I know those who know what I’ve been through must wonder if I am out of my mind. I am not. Going out of my mind is what I am aiming to prevent.