Saturday, August 6, 2011

crying

A recent discussion at our team meeting and Nathan's thoughtful blog inspired this post.


"I'm sorry I am so emotional."  "I don't mean to be crying right now."  "I don't know what is wrong with me."  I hear these sentences so often during a visit.   And the truth is - if our team is at your house or your bedside, you probably have some really good reasons to cry.


But it's messy, and embarrassing, and revealing, and sad, and private, and.....  I spend a lot of time giving people permission to cry.  Of course,  it's so easy to say.  I have to remind myself that too.


Mr. Rogers tells this story.
I remember after my grandfather's death, seeing Dad in the hall with tears streaming down his face.  I don't think I had ever seen him cry before.  I'm glad I did see him.  It helped me know that it was okay for men to cry.  Many years later, when my father himself died, I cried: and way down deep I knew he would have said it was all right.


Sniff, sniff.  Hand me the kleenex. We can cry together.

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