I hurried to make my appointment with Susan. I had my eyes on a rental property that had just come on the market and was to meet her there soon. I ran over the conversation with Joan during the quick lunch we shared. Talking about how at peace Mitch was with his life triggered something in me that I didn’t want to deal with. I hadn’t felt peace in such a long time, I wasn’t qualified to talk about the subject.

I made the mistake of closing my eyes momentarily at the table, and it...