Tears

Tears come easily to some people. Too easily sometimes. Take me for instance. You knew it would come back to me, didn't you? It always does! I'm my favorite topic. Anyway, I cry easy and easily. Easy because there are no wracking sobs, just the little lip tremble, the quaver in the voice and the tear trickling down my cheek. And you wouldn't believe the list of things that bring that reaction. For instance, a few years ago McDonald's televised a commercial that showed a group of six or seven very young children, say five or six years old. All walking into McDonald's out of a rain storm, each of them in a little yellow slicker and rain hat, with clumsy rain boots. It was so sweet and cute, that I teared up on the spot. Silly.
My daughter was once describing "Shadowlands", a movie that was brilliant, but sad. Hers was a warning to everyone that it was difficult to watch. She turned to me and said, "It would probably kill you." She knows I can't watch sad movies.
One of the most painful scenes in a movie is the end of "Carousel". Have you seen the movie? A real tear-jerker; and that last scene is something else. Ask me about it someday, you'll find that I can't describe it without tearing up. Billie comes back from the grave to try to help his wife get through the trials of life. At the end, he stands behind her and sings "When You Walk Through a Storm". He couldn't be the husband that she needed in life but was trying to help her. My description isn't adequate, but it is excruciatingly sad.
Anyway, tears. This is United Way enrollment week in the office where I work. I'm not a fan of United Way, but they gave us free ice cream for the kickoff. Yum. And every day, there are representatives from two organizations that receive funds from the program. Today, one of them was Hospice of Dayton. Hospice is great and I thought I'd go over and tell them so, and thank them for what they did for my dad. My dad died over 7 years ago and was only at Hospice for 24 hours. Yet I stood there and cried. Even now, thinking about that little two minute vingette, the tears come, the throat tightens and I can't speak. I don't think about him often, but I love him. And I remember.