Beyond Platitudes

Perhaps the secret of living well is not in having all the answers but in pursuing unanswerable questions in good company.  - Rachel Naomi Remen

When a person you care about is ill, there are so many feelings and thoughts, concerns and obsessions. What to do? How should you be, especially when you're with them?   Somehow, the nearly universal, cross-cultural expected response to a friend in need is to be cheerful, upbeat, and positive.