Courage: Strength in the face of pain or grief.

Life throws plenty of curveballs at us, some good, some bad, some painful. People in our lives get sick, sometimes amazing us with their resilience and pushback in the face of death.

And if a life comes to an end, we all grieve in our own ways; sometimes the sorrow sticks, it never goes away.

For Ottawa Redblacks defensive lineman Ettore Lattanzio, the life of his father Rosario came to an end Wednesday after a gritty fight with stomach cancer. Three days later, Ettore played in Winnipeg, helping the Redblacks clinch a first-place finish in the CFL East (and a bye into the division championship game Nov. 20).

Lattanzio could have stayed home. But he did what his courageous dad, who would have turned 56 on Nov. 16, had told him to do. Rosario, whose physical strength had allowed him to set a national powerlifting record in the benchpress five years ago, overheard his wife talking about their football-playing son.

Said Ettore before leaving for Winnipeg: “My mom was speaking to somebody (at the hospital) and said, There’s no way (Ettore) will play, he won’t go to Winnipeg.’ My dad heard, he responded with a: ‘What? He’s going.’ He definitely would have wanted me to go, especially because it’s against the team that drafted me and cut me. I don’t want to be home for the next few days twiddling my thumbs.”

The 25-year-old wanted to be with his teammates, his “other” family. He wanted to “honour” his father and knew the best way he could do that would be on a football field.

As for Rosario, he fought to the end. Courage? He had 13 rounds of chemotherapy, falling just short of “going the distance,” 15 rounds.

Goalie Craig Anderson left the Ottawa Senators Thursday morning “to attend to a personal matter at home.”

There was speculation ... what could be wrong, why would the team’s No. 1 goalkeeper suddenly leave? We found out the answers on Saturday, with the painful news that Anderson’s wife Nicholle has been diagnosed with cancer. With that life-changer on her plate, Nicholle selflessly urged her husband to return to the Senators after his replacement, Andrew Hammond, suffered a lower-body injury Friday in Calgary, knocking him out of the lineup for at least a week. A team player? Geez, that’s above and beyond.

Said Senators GM Pierre Dorion: “Given that they’re in the wait period and Andrew Hammond’s (hurt), Nicholle told Craig to phone me, which he did during the game. We talked to Craig after the game and it was determined that because they’re in a wait period and they were going to drive to Ottawa together as a family that it would be all right for Craig to come and rejoin his team.”

Hockey Fights Cancer, indeed. More than two years ago, Senators senior adviser Bryan Murray was diagnosed with colon cancer. While undergoing chemotherapy, he remains a key member of the organization. Winger Bobby Ryan lost his mother Melody to cancer in July. Life goes on.

In May of 2014, Mother’s Day, three days after his mom France had died of a heart attack, Martin St. Louis scored for the New York Rangers in Game 6 of a playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In 2010, figure skater Joannie Rochette’s mom Therese died of a heart attack two days before the Winter Olympics. Fighting off the grief, Rochette won a bronze medal. In 2003, two days after his father Irvin died of a heart attack, QB Brett Favre passed for 399 yards and four touchdowns while leading the Green Bay Packers to a 41-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders.

We read about athletes who have found the resolve within themselves to perform while aching inside. The athletes don’t seek out the attention. They’re just doing what’s in their hearts.

Courage certainly isn’t exclusive to celebrities. We’ve got heroes all around us, everyday folks who have lived their own personal hell, yet gritted their teeth, put on a brave face and used their emotions to fuel the fire. No headlines, no worry.