Grace Under Pressure

Novelist Ernest Hemingway once defined courage as “grace under pressure.” There has been a time in my life in which I have witnessed a family member show this kind of courage. It was summer of 2011 and some gossip had been going around that my sister’s husband had been cheating. At first, it was all kept quiet. My mom, other sister, and cousin didn’t want my oldest sister to know we were talking about it just yet without getting more information. My cousin being a hair stylist, she did everyone’s hair and knew all of the gossip from everyone. The rumors that we were hearing were true. It had been going on for a few months. The hardest part was finding a way to inform my sister about this, she was unaware of it. My cousin ended up telling my sister at her house, it was devastating. We weren’t there but my cousin told us what happened. She was angry, sad, confused, and hurt. The part that was the most confusing to me was that she was so quiet every time I saw her after that. You could tell something was obviously wrong; she wasn’t her normal happy self. However she acted as if nothing was wrong with her relationship with him. I couldn’t wrap my head around this. None of us could understand why she would even consider staying with him. However, they worked out their problems and are currently now going to a counselor to help their marriage. It was a hot summer day in July, about a month after finding out the news. We were at the baseball field watching my nephew play baseball. My sister’s husband was the coach so she sat next to us in the stands. (We had found out weeks before that the girl he had cheated with was a sister to one of the mom’s from the baseball team. She was 21, making her seven years younger than him.) It was that day that sent me over the edge. We were sitting on the bleachers when the girl he had cheated on with, walked by. I was so shocked that she even had the nerve to show up to the game. The first thought I had when she walked by was, this girl might be going to the hospital today. I’m not trashy, nor have I ever been in a fight. For her to come to this game knowing he would be there along with his wife, it is not anywhere close to being okay. My sister could tell I was just waiting to get up and go over there. She stared at me and shook her head. Then she mouthed the words ‘Don’t do anything here.” On the spot, this made me stop and stare at her. I didn’t understand how she was being so calm. I respected her attitude and didn’t say anything to the girl, but I wanted too. I respected her for handling it maturally, although I would've easily confronted the little witch for her.