“Suffering and pain are just part of life”, he said. His father was a violent man who ended up shooting himself in front of my student and his family, when he was 9 years old. He’s a pacifist now, and believes that violence is unnecessary while pain is something you need to become resilient. “Pain is like the pupils in our eyes”, another one chimes in: “looks like a black hole but it makes all the colors that we see”. What is he thankful for today? He’s thankful for his pain. It shows him the way. “Happy thanksgiving!” We laughed, as I left “Enjoy your suffering!”.