Paradox

It is a strange and unknowable paradox to me that any overflowing emotion – grief, happiness, anger – can manifest itself in tears. How can this be? One doesn’t have an uncontrollable desire to smile when sad. (Does one? Laying aside Tweedy’s instructions as expressed in “How to Fight Loneliness,” that is.)

Or perhaps it’s just a legacy of genetics. My grandpa is the tenderest-hearted person I have ever known and is rather prone to this sort of thing, to the point where sometimes even a funny birthday card can result in a light mist. Maybe there are families out there where they smile menacingly at each other, who knows. Creepy! (That makes me want to cry. [HA!])

In any case I have never thought of myself as, nor have I ever been, nor am I really now, what you might think of as a ‘crier,’ per se. Everybody knew THAT girl in high school, right? So I remain puzzled at the slow emergence of a trend that seemingly will result in me having to explain rather more often that, no, I’m really not upset, this is just what happens.

Do not be dismayed, people, if you see me verklempt with some degree of waterworks going on. Just remind me to keep hydrated.