Genetically Emotional

by Simona Lewis

“There's a running joke in our family that we cry at everything, but it's true.”

Everyone on my mom's family has always been seen as pretty emotional. There's a running joke in our family that we cry at everything, but… it's true. I remember watching one of the Muppet movies when I was younger, and there was a chance that the Muppets were going to disband because they didn't have enough money or support from the public, or something. And I started crying… at a Muppet movie? [Laughs] but our sense of emotion doesn't just apply to my immediate family. I guess it really must have started with my grandma, my mom's mom. It's a trait she passed to all of her children, and grandchildren. My grandma's very caring, very outgoing, and she knows everyone, and she helps everyone too. She always hosts family events and gives us food and babysits whenever we need someone to. She helps out all of her neighbors, and, she really does know everyone, and if she doesn't know you, she will, within like, ten minutes.

I remember going to the grocery store with my mom when I was younger, and her talking to the different employees and some of them asking about my grandma. I thought that was crazy. My grandma's tradition is to take every grandchild on a trip after their Bar or Bat Mitzvah. And I wasn't allowed to leave the country, so I chose to go to New York for a week. Um, and I remember one day we were just walking down the street, and she stopped outside of a firehouse to talk to one of the fireman for a good twenty minutes or so, like they were old friends, which I think really shows how much she cares for people, and how emotionally in touch with herself she is, and… I see that in myself a lot too. During the show I did recently, on closing day, my whole family, including my grandma was in the audience. And, we'd been working on the show for around three months, and it was my first time having a lead at my high school, and it was a production that I was honestly incredibly proud of.

And while we were taking our final bows, I saw my mom crying in the audience, and I knew I would soon start crying too, partially because I'd been holding back tears for most of the show. And partially because seeing my mom cry usually triggers a lot of emotion for me too. Um, on the last performance of any show at my high school, we have a tradition of thanking all of the faculty involved, and I chose to thank our director. And I had had a whole speech prepared, but when it came to actually thanking her, I could barely get any words out because I was so overwhelmed with emotion. And still seeing my mom crying out of the corner of my eye, I totally started crying too, and could barely articulate any coherent sentences. [Laughs] and later, my sister came up to me after the show and told me about how it was a chain reaction of crying and that my grandma had been crying too, which I think is such a cute emotional moment across the generations, and, really shows how it's a trait that's been passed down through all of us.