Each of us learns to respond to life through the people closest to us. There is a reason why the British can generally be referred to as having a “stiff upper lip” as opposed to Mediterraneans, who tend to “wear their emotions on their sleeves.” We learn early, not knowing that we are learning anything at all. My father chose to disappear in my pre-teen years; packed his clothes in the trunk of his car one day and never came back. My mom and I had one explanatory conversation consisting of two sentences devoid of visible emotional response, and it was never spoken of again. I learned early how to respond to difficulty in life. My guess is, so did she.