My [50 M] parents taught me not to cry. I'm still not sure if they know this.

When I was in early grade school, I guess I used to cry "too much". I don't really recall it.

One day, my mom showed up at school and told me I had a doctor's appointment to go to. Of course, I went with her, but I had no idea what was going on.

At the appointment, the doctor gave me a simple physical exam (knee response, vitals, cursory exam of my mouth), then he sat down and told me and my mother that I had overactive tear ducts. He recommended that my parents rub my tear ducts in a circular fashion every night for 10-20 minutes, and that my tear ducts would fix themselves. They did this for maybe a month or so.

I learned to never cry again that day. I'm a little better now, but it still haunts me. When I cry, it's typically cathartic and very rare.