Oh, some of the tears ARE tears of joy.
THOSE I let her see, and i tell her what they are.
the first time she took Blue ribbons showing the nasty llama, fer instance.
the time she took Honors for her Pickled Pepers.
I cried. And I hugged her, and let her see and told her how happy and proud I was of her.
I am SO glad you have your vocation, and that you were aware of it early.
So many of us, ( like me) drift around, just trying to deal with what life throws.
I have had my share of drifting around too.
I guess I look at life not as what I do for a job, but how I live it. The job come secondary. I am at the point now that I am happy with were I have made it in life and now I look for new challenges.