Stuff It, Fergie

I woke up this morning with a song stuck in my head.  That is not unusual.  I often wake up with a song that I last heard days or even weeks ago, and I wonder why on earth it's pounding away in my brain.

Often the song is one I enjoy, and it starts the day off pretty nicely.

Sometimes, as in today, it's a song I can't stand.

Today's theme music is brought to me by Fergie.  "Big Girls Don't Cry."

Well, Fergie, stuff it.  Big girls DO cry.

Sometimes we cry because we're sad, or we miss someone.

Sometimes because we are happy, and the emotion wells up until it simply has no other place to go.

Sometimes, tears mist our eyes when we hear a perfect, sweet harmony.

Sometimes we cry at the truth.

Anger, Frustration, Confusion, Disillusionment -- the Four Horseman of the Bitter Cry.

And sometimes we cry with relief.  Relief that the struggle is over, that the hard part is through.  When the baby is born or the graduation arrives or the deployment is over, there are tears of joy, but also relief.  All of these things signal a huge change and adjustments to be made, but they also signify that something difficult and scary and sometimes painful has been borne.

So, this morning?  I think it's time to turn up the music and play something a little bit more truthful.  It's nothing against Fergie, and the beat of that song is actually hopeful and happy somehow-- it's just that she's wrong.  Sometimes crying is a sign that we have grown, and we are strong, and we will overcome.

Really?  I don't think so.

For Shannon.