We must cry - your letters

"Men Don't Cry" [Brothers, March 2003] was painful for me. My father passed a few years ago from cancer, and it was horrible. At his funeral, I didn't cry--didn't even tear up. I sat there stone-faced and stared straight ahead. After the burial I told myself I hadn't cried because I had dealt with his passing before it happened; he had been in the hospital for quite a while. Luckily for me, my mother and I had a talk, and she explained that it was okay to cry--that crying wouldn't make me less masculine. A few evenings later, I found those tears I'd been holding on to and I released a whole lot of pain.

PATRICK D. EDWARDS, CHICAGO

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