You may never know what someone has been through. No matter how long you know them, how close you are, how romantic or non-romantic you are, no matter how closely or tightly they hold you, or how intimate you’ve been. You may never know what they’ve experienced or what effect that has had upon their soul, and spirit, and psyche.
You may see them at events, or at church, or in the media, on the bus, but you may never know some of the unspeakable joys, or horrors, they have seen or felt. They may not want you to know and that is their right, not yours to know. In fact, it is the responsibility of the rest of us to tread lightly, if at all, when interacting with friends, family and strangers to always be supportive of their happiness and mental health. Anything else is unacceptable.
I’ve known a friend of mine 50r+ years. I may never know what he experienced before he moved to the same neighborhood my parents did when I was 10. He may never know what I experienced up to that point in our lives. You may never know what your partner, friend, spouse, neighbor, boss, co-worker, etc. has experienced. My friend and I may never know what we experienced in the years we were in different schools, or even in the same school but in different areas. The torture and bullying we endured, some of us for years, leave wounds ripe for re-opening. Life can be a parade and it should be a sort of parade for all of us. It is the responsibility of the rest of us to not rain on those parades, but perhaps bring an umbrella (or a blanket) to wrap around those who were only able to bring a chair.