It was one of those extraordinary moments we’ve come to expect. Public figures play out private dramas in front of cameras and microphones.

Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer has returned.

The breast cancer she discovered in 2004 has recurred, this time in her bones. She faces a lifetime of treatment as she fights the disease.

John Edwards made the announcement at a news conference, with Elizabeth at his side.

The former U.S. senator from North Carolina who ran for vice president in 2004 said he would continue his current presidential campaign, with Elizabeth at his side.

Elizabeth Edwards said she has encouraged her husband and will be with him every step of the way.

John Edwards said: “Any time, any place I need to be with Elizabeth, I will be there – period.”

Let’s discuss.

Actually, let’s not.

But, of course, we will. After every public private revelation, what follows is inevitable: People who’ve never met any of the players will parse every word for motive and meaning. They will judge through prisms of politics and what they would do.

Since a politician is involved, much of the chatter will be partisan and some of it will be mean.

Critics will say: “John Edwards should be with his wife, not gallivanting around the country, raising money and running toward the White House. He had his chance. Now he needs to step back and concentrate on her.”

Supporters will counter: “Edwards is the candidate talking about the issues – poverty, health care, an Iraq strategy. The country needs him. Elizabeth Edwards is genuine, an asset to the country and his campaign, and she believes in his message.”

I say, it’s none of my business. I would be furious if anyone even tried to decipher the code between my husband and me as we dealt with any serious life issue. So what right do I have to jump into a family discussion?

I shouldn’t even have watched the Edwardses’ sometimes excruciating televised news conference. Yet, like many others, I could not turn away.

Elizabeth Edwards said continuing to campaign was her choice. “I don’t look sickly, I don’t feel sickly. I am as ready as any person can be for that,” she said of campaigning.

Leaving politics out of it, Elizabeth Edwards has always impressed me as a strong, smart, even inspiring, woman.

At the news conference, she doled out private details with humor, making jokes about her well-publicized house and how a cracked rib that sent her for a check-up was a blessing.

Illness doesn’t change who she is. She and her husband share a vision and she wants to work to make it a reality. To not take her at her word would be condescending.

To take her husband’s concern as anything but genuine would be worse.

In a YouTube culture, I realize nothing is private, even moments of families living life in the toughest of times.

Sometimes, there’s no need to react in public to private revelations. It’s enough to be moved.