It Will Not Be Their Last

He was raised by parents from a different time…looking back he doesn’t know why… but as a young boy he was often told…if you want to grow up strong and powerful……don’t cry. He grew into a strong and powerful man who…and looking back on his younger years… he kept control of his emotions and never shed a tear. Then he fell in love…they created a child…she was the apple of his eye… when she was young he was proud of the fact…she’d never seen him cry. Proud the two of them were so similar…like human synonyms… She was growing up in control of her emotions…strong and powerful… just like him. When her mother, his wife, died suddenly…he realized all those years he had been wrong…that holding back his tears is not what made him strong. He held his daughter’s hand and looked into her eyes… “When your feeling sad,” he said, “my child…it is okay to cry.” Squeezing his hand she looked up at him through eyes the deepest blue…. "If it’s okay for me, Daddy.” she said, “then it’s okay for you.” And for the first time in their lives thy cried together…. shedding their restraints and teachings of the past… feeling stronger than they ever felt… knowing this cry would not be their last.