I should pause the story here and mention that I am a crier. I cry at expected times, when other, normal, people cry, at funerals and weddings and when athletes win Olympic medals after overcoming tremendous odds. But I also cry whenever someone else cries, a Pavlovian response.1 There’s more: I cry at mawkish television commercials, awards-show speeches, Bruce Springsteen songs (even the rousing ones like “Glory Days”), and standing ovations. Pretty trees.
