Anyone else’s husband getting sappier in our ‘old age’?

This post has just got me thinking and I had to come back and say a little more. I worked in construction all my life aside from 3 years full-time in EMS and volunteering for years after. You need to be tough in both professions. Physically and Mentally, especially in EMS. I've dealt with a lot of physical pain. Construction is brutal on the body. In EMS I experienced pain on an emotional level. Not the type of pain we feel from losing a loved one or seeing the suffering of someone you care for. It's different and I can't explain w/o going really deep. Just trust me when I say, it's complicated but no less painful. I was extremely lucky to have a mother who taught me to never feel weak or embarrassed about accepting and expressing my emotions. "There is no shame in crying. Accept the pain, let it out, never forget it but keep moving forward." That is what I was taught and I appreciate her more now than ever before for this lesson. May she rest in loving peace. I have seen some horrible things. But what really took it's toll is seeing the suffering of others. I'm not the only one. I watched as friends, coworkers, even instructors, lose the battle with the ugliness of humanity. Tough guys, really tough guys, who compartmentalized it all, kept it inside and never let it bother them. I watched them all mask their pain with substance abuse, apathy and anger. Many punished their minds and bodies coping with this. Some couldn't overcome it and took their lives. It's no different in construction. Substance abuse is common place just to deal with the physical pain. Many in construction got there due to a lack of options. Many just don't fit in with the rest of society. Their lives are often hard on and off the job site. I saw many give up in the crash of 08'. Strong, hard men that are no longer here because their demons became too much to face. Guys on assistance because they were tough and never took the time to care for themselves and stand up to this BS norm of society. Guys that destroyed their lives because they didn't allow themselves to feel empathy for others. A tough person, does more than just knuckle up, stabilize and rush that woman bleeding out after losing her unborn child, or scrape a guy off the road as his friends and family wail in agony, or resuscitate the drug addict laying piss, shit and vomit regardless of the danger and ugliness. A real tough guy faces all that, then shows extreme empathy and caring for them. They allow themselves to accept that pain and when it's over, they let it out. They let it run through them like a storm and feel every bit of pain. They let it out but never forget, and when the storm comes back they let it pass through them accepting how much it hurt because they know it's no different than any other pain they experience through life. Losing a loved one, managing an injury, facing violence, overcoming adversity that shouldn't exist etc. etc. etc. it's all pain and it should never be trivialized or abandoned. Art is simply an expression of life. Good art, pure art, evokes an emotional response in the person who witnesses it. So when a movie or any other art form evokes the emotions that ring true to the pain or joy we have experienced or witness that's exactly what it should do. Just as a comedy or a photo of dancing children should fill us with joy. We should accept what it gives us, we should feel everything it gives us, we should let it pass through us, stir us, cry, laugh, lament.. Because what else is there? Masking it with substances or anger because of some BS ideal of toughness? How healthy is that? How weak is that? That's not tough!!! What's tough is truly feeling and accepting what you feel as part of life. Letting it mold and shape you into a better person. The OP should be thankful for having a partner of 30 years that allows themselves to feel life for what it is. That their partner trusts and understands them enough to not be ashamed for expressing their emotions. Ultimately that they are a strong enough, tough enough, person to overcome and continue on in a world that hard. AND that same person stands by them tough all this insanity with love, support and empathy. So, OP, stop and think what your partner would be like if his concerns were about being tough rather than accepting and feeling what's around them and how that would affect you and your family. Then, be thankful for how goddamn lucky you are to have this partner. And Maybe, just maybe, let go of this BS society norm of what is tough.