He said he wasn’t sad.

I didn’t believe it.

I laid down next to him, nearly on top of him, and said (what I hoped were) comforting, validating words.

“It’s OK to be sad” kind of stuff.

Within a minute, he was up and on to the next thing.

Not sad anymore.

I will always believe it is because he felt validated.

Just like in the movie, “Inside Out”, when Sadness validated and built resilience.

Peace be to us,

Gayle