The veteran listened intently, but his posture tightened ever so slightly. Elise chided herself for bringing up a mention of the war so tactlessly. No doubt the man must’ve fought battles and lost friends, too. How could she, who prided herself on being so acutely sensitive to human nature, have been so callous?
Elise continued talking about her grandmother to put him at ease. “She wasn’t secretive,” Elise added, “just… protective of whatever came before. I always figured she’d tell us when she was ready. When she passed, those pieces of her life stayed where she’d left them.”