I'm all for people wearing their hearts on their sleeves and crying from watching emotional movies.
I was never that person. Maybe for the longest time, I thought crying was a sign of weakness and I didn't give in.
That is until I watched The Color Purple and sobbed after witnessing Nettie and Celie reuniting after 30 years.
Still gets me every time.
Curious to hear from strangers online and of their most vulnerable moments, Redditor CSCW asked:
"What never fails to make you tear up or cry?"
Death
Whether it's a family member or a hospital staff, witnessing a person's last breath is something that can stay with you forever.
The Note
"My late partner passed away from leukemia at 38 years old. He hid a letter for me in our room in case he didn't make it. It's the most beautiful and eloquent thing I've ever read."
"He talks about regretting not being able to see my hair turn Grey, or seeing me accomplish my dreams. He gives me permission to fall in love again, be messy, and move forward. The level of support is so encouraging. It's also a heartbreaking read and I've only read it 3 times. I will read it again on the 2 year date of his passing at the end of this month."
The Son
"Thinking about how poorly I treated my dad when he was still alive. He was always trying to find things in common with me to connect with me. When I found out he liked something I also liked, I just changed my mind and found it uncool. I looked down on the tv shows he liked and didn't realize until later that he had an awesome taste for quality campy television like The Adventures of Brisco County Junior and other classics from that era of 90s syndicated television. If I knew him now he'd be my best friend. I did try to connect with him in the last few years of his life but he had dementia by then and couldn't follow things I knew he would have found interesting before."
"His last words to me were 'It hurts' while I held his hand during catheterization on his last trip to the hospital. I was too embarrassed from seeing his penis to offer any true comfort."
The Patient
"One particular patient I had working in a trauma center. 19 year old girl I'd never seen before, and didn't know at all. She was ejected from a vehicle and then crushed because her boyfriend was trying to show off. I was training new staff, and they were at the end of their training so I was only in the room to provide supervision and step in if necessary and I spent the entire trauma holding her hand (on her request) and trying to comfort her and keep her mind off of the injuries to both of her legs."
"Her last words were spoken directly to me: 'this really hurts. Can I go to sleep?'"
"I cried for days after. I've never had a patient's death hit me as hard before or after."
Pets
Losing a pet can cause as much grief as losing a family member.
Dog's Last Day
"Thinking about my dogs last day. She was 17 years old and her organs were shutting down. Before we took her to get put down she was in the backyard eating her food. She walked slowly to us while wagging her tail and we took her. When we got home to bury her I looked over at her dog bowl and there was still a bit of food in it. Kills me every time I think of it."
Irreplaceable
"When my dog died I thought of taking her to get put down but she was so scared of the vet that I couldn't let her last moments be full of fear. I sat with her all night, she stopped eating, she couldn't move much, she couldn't control her bladder, but I still sat with her. I kissed her on the head and told her I'd be okay and not too lonely, it was ok for her to go when she was ready. A few minutes later she let out a little yelp and that was it. That was 5 years ago and I haven't been able to get another pet since because I don't know if I can go through that again."
Goodbye, Mortimer
"Thinking of that abandoned little kitten I found. I called him Mortimer. Tried to keep him alive. Bottle feeding him. Keeping him warm, skin to skin. Staying awake through most of the night. Calling in sick day after day to stay with kitty. Emergency vet scheduling with them saying he probably won't make it."
"Kitty didn't make it. It's when my oldest cat slowly stalked up to the cat, nudging her nose against Mortimer's head. Mortimer didn't move. Didn't react. I put him in a shoebox with his blanket... So he would not be cold."
"Buried him and left a little pebble for a tombstone."
"That was twenty years ago."
"I'm sorry, Mortimer. I couldn't save you."
Movies And Music
People connect to songs and films because it resonates on a certain level.
"Cant help falling in love - elvis"
"Was supposed to be the song my sister and her fiancee danced to at her wedding. Instead it was played walking into the church, at his funeral, after he took his own life."
"My poor sis was so strong that day, but that song still gets us both."
Moving Monologue
"The ending monologue of movie The Shawshank Redemption. 'I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.'"
Emotional Ending
"The end of Homeward Bound."
"Especially when Shadow says 'Peter! You're ok!'"
"Like, they went through all of that and almost died multiple times and Shadow was just glad to know Peter was ok."
"Get's me every time."
"I Could Have Got More..." – Schindler's List
"As a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, I'm fairly desensitized to the more graphic imagery, but that is absolutely the toughest part to watch. What is the value of a human life? A ring, a watch, a meager everyday object is all that the life of a family member may be worth."
– codisinc
Effects Of Aging
"Strategically placed albums from my youth."
"If I am half drunk and someone begins to play the album 'Four Cornered Night' by Jets to Brazil, I will become uncharacteristically nostalgic, and then openly sob at the idea of how good I was at being 18 years old, vs how sh**ty I am at being 38 years old."
"Getting old is weird."
Reading about pet-owners losing their beloved furry companion is exactly the reason why I have never owned a cat or a dog.
I'm afraid of getting too emotionally attached to them to the point where I suffer a grief comparable to losing family or a close friend.
But then I think about how much I'm missing out on the rewards and constant love that comes with being a pet owner.
Maybe it's worth making a trip to the local shelter.
There are some truly strange laws depending on where you go. Here is a list of the weirdest ones.
U/Bone_Donor asked: What is the stupidest law where you live?
Did you know that murder is allowed in certain instances, depending on where you go? Talk about scary.
I’m sure no one will test these laws.
Not sure how much of it is true. But apparently if the Swedes cross the border by walking over the ice given its frozen over, (which it hasn't in like more than 100 years) we are allowed to kill them.
There's an old law in York in the UK that says if a Scotsman is within the city walls after sundown you can kill them with a longbow. I assume no one has tested the law for a while.
The exact gates they have to be within are defined but I don't remember what they are.
Dying is illegal in France.
Kate Mckinnon Snl GIF by Saturday Night LiveGiphyOh boy. France has some history and a love of regulation. Perfect mix for absurd laws. Quick examples:
It's still technically mandatory to have hay at home in case the king's horse is nearby and needs some... Horses have been a pretty rare sight, let alone kings.
A mayor made it illegal to die in his town. The initial problem was an overcrowded cemetery, but he kinda reached the wrong solution.
This probably isn’t enforced anymore.
There is a medieval law here that has never been repealed: all males over the age of 14 are required by law to practice longbow for at least two hours per week.
Some of these laws are so silly, they make you wonder what event happened that put them in place.
I think everyone has done this.
"Forbidden to pee in the ocean". I live in Portugal.
'Like a piss in the ocean' is literally a euphemism for something not mattering. What's the problem?
Tigers are fine, though.
film history GIF by DiggGiphyIt's illegal to bring a lion to the movies.
Somebody better have a conversation with MGM.
Define “suspiciously”.
You can't carry a salmon suspiciously.
"Sir, what were carrying this salmon close to your body? Were you going to use it as a weapon?"
"No officer, I was going to eat it later"
"Seems suspicious you were carrying it around in public. I'm gonna have to take you in for questioning."
"Nuuuuu!"
What is the backstory here?
It's illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors here.
I know this is Pennsylvania, but I forget the exact reasoning, but I think it has something to do with homeless people.
These next few laws will definitely make you question these towns’ legitimacy when it comes to lawmaking.
Poor raccoons.
raccoon stealing GIFGiphyIn Virginia, it's illegal to "hunt or kill any wild bird or wild animal, including any nuisance species" on Sundays. However, it is permissible to kill raccoons.
How the heck is this enforced?
I don't know if this is still a thing anymore, but in Texas it used to be illegal to own more than six dildos.
It's illegal to own any at all in Alabama unless the owner has a letter from a doctor claiming a legitimate medical need.
Granted, most of these laws were written a very long time ago. But it makes you wonder, what the heck were these original lawmakers doing? And what event happened that needed these laws to be enforced at all?
If some of these laws don't make you want to be a criminal, then I don't know what will