Sentimental

I've tried to explain it to my niece, but she just doesn't get it.  Not yet at least.  It will happen to her too some day.  How do I know?  Because I too was once young and naive.  I remember watching tv as a child and my mom tearing up during a Hallmark commercial.  I would roll my eyes and chuckle.  Little did I know that my time was coming.  Mom would also get choked up during the national anthem or reading a birthday card.  "Geez, mom, why do you always cry?"

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  I can barely see a person in military uniform without getting a knot in my throat.  And at my niece's high school graduation, with my hand over my heart, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the tears were falling.  I would have been embarrassed, but I looked over at mom, and her mascara was streaked as well.

In Azerbaijan, all young men had to serve in the military, unless they were able to bribe their way out.  We would routinely see Soviet-era infantry trucks transporting the young troops - very young.  I doubt many of them even needed to shave yet, but there they sat, bumping along the road, with machine guns slung over their shoulders.  I remember saying out loud, "I can't believe those boys are given guns."  And Kyle responded with, "Maybe it's the innocence of youth that makes them hungry for a fight."

And I think that might be true for all of us.  When we are young, we can't yet appreciate the fragility of life.  Maybe it's only with added years that we have grown emotionally enough to be sentimental.  So, it's something  you have to experience and live.  Get your kleenex out youngins', because if video games and reality tv doesn't desensitize you, you too will earn the honor of crying at the next Lifetime movie.