Tissues, anyone?

Does how easily or often you cry indicate how deep your emotions are? Does what makes you cry say something about what you value? Is crying a sign of strength or weakness?

With so many goodbyes ahead in the coming weeks, people are already starting to talk about how much they're going to cry. Just today, one of my rabbi's parting words to our class got to me (to be fair, he choked up first!).

I don't think you can judge a person's emotional capacity by how many tears they spill. Sometimes it depends on the circumstances. I cried a ton at the beginning of seminary, but that doesn't mean I'm a hyper-emotional person. And I didn't cry when touring concentration camps in Poland, but that doesn't mean it wasn't affecting me.

I can say that I don't cry easily even though I was a mess at the beginning of the year, can't I?

Or maybe people can never make such claims because we can't always predict how we'll react to any given situation.

Will I cry when I hand in my last final, or at the final banquet with all of the school and staff, or when I say goodbye to my roommates, or when I leave the building for the last time as a student, or when I board the plane to America, or when I see my family for the first time since September?

I don't know. But I guess I'll keep a pack of tissues handy just to be safe.