Breakdown today! Anyone else?

Sometimes a kind word will bring on the tears. It breaks through our defense shield of being strong for a long time. I agree, it is hard. take care of yourself.

Different set of circumstances, but a good while after my beloved mom died I was in a chain store looking for silk flowers to take to the cemetery. I was in no way upset, it was something I’d done many times. A kind store worker casually walked by and said “are you finding what you need today?” Out of nowhere I burst into a flood of tears and mumbled “no I’m sure not” and then, because I was so bewildered, I bolted out of the store with nothing. Sitting in my car crying, all I could think was “great, now I can’t go back in that store for at least six months to give them time to forget that” Sometimes the tears are like that, at a time you least expect it, and still they are good for the soul. I’m glad you got it out and wish you a peaceful time to come

For me, it’s not the crying I fear. It’s when I don’t cry and I should be crying that I know I am headed to a bad spot.

Take care of yourself.

Tears are God's gift to us. Our holy water. They heal us as they flow.
-Rita Schiano

We're entitled to cry, to break down, to lose it. Trying to care for a loved one with dementia is probably the hardest thing we'll ever do. I don't think I ever visited my mother w/o crying in the car on the way home. Watching a person become a mere she'll of the tough person they once were is very difficult to process. We think of our parents as invincible, then they get old and feeble before our very eyes and that superhero suit vanishes. They become mortal, and we realize their days are short.

I'm sorry you're witnessing such a thing. You don't need to be brave, you just need to know you're human and this hurts.

Yep, if we don't leak we blow under pressure.

I am happy for you that you were able to release the pressure with your tears. I find them so cleansing.

Great big warm hugs! This is hard.