is it really that uncommon to cry at airports?

i cry. it's just a natural response to the situation. i had to take my boyfriend to the airport today. still feeling absolutely rubbish about it, but it doesn't matter if he stayed a day, a week, or a month longer, i would still cry. he didn't want to be too emotional going through security, so he kept making me smile and laugh once the waterworks started. didn't see anyone else around us or at security crying though.

I find it interesting that I have never once been asked what was wrong with me when I've been blubbering at airports.  I cry everytime.  I cry when we say goodbye, I try very hard not to cry when going thru security, I cry when sitting at the gate, I cry on the plane, I cry when I get home - I'm a MESS!  ...yet, I have never been asked why I am crying, which leads me to believe that is not not uncommon at all. Thank goodness b/c I would hate to be asked - it would just make me cry harder!

I couldn't count the number of times I've cried in airports. I always feel really stupid, but figure it's commonplace enough at airports. In the beginning of our relationship it was the worst!! One time I was in the bathroom in the Philadelphia airport on my layover sobbing uncontrollably. People probably thought I was crazy.

I always cry at the airport, so I don't think it's an uncommon thing at all. I don't usually cry when I leave PDX here at home, since I'm so excited to be seeing my fiance again--I love my mom dearly, but it doesn't seem to make me cry to leave home for Birmingham. I'm sure when I leave for good once I get my visa I'll get upset

Now, when I leave England it tears me up. I always cry for a few days before I leave, and my fiance is awesome when it comes to cheering me up. This last time I left (Jan 17th), he held it together until I went to get into the security line at departures at Birmingham--then he started to cry too, and for my fiance it takes a lot to make him cry at all. But, at that moment it made me suck up my own sadness to try and cheer him up as well, and I kept telling him it wasn't fair, but he just kept telling me to look towards this May when we'll get married (he has the time off of work and the tickets booked already) and then getting my visa together, and that's what keeps me going I guess.

I just try to think about it as that which doesn't kill us ultimately makes us stronger. I think all of us who go through these episodes learn to have strong relationships when we finally do settle down on one side of the pond or the other. I know I've learned to appreciate my fiance far more than I might have if he lived in town here with me. I figure if me and him can endure this distance (6,000 miles) and the time apart and the goodbyes (always temporary goodbyes, I try to tell myself), then we can handle just about anything

I just try to think about it as that which doesn't kill us ultimately makes us stronger. I think all of us who go through these episodes learn to have strong relationships when we finally do settle down on one side of the pond or the other. I know I've learned to appreciate my fiance far more than I might have if he lived in town here with me. I figure if me and him can endure this distance (6,000 miles) and the time apart and the goodbyes (always temporary goodbyes, I try to tell myself), then we can handle just about anything

I think a lot of us are in the same boat, and what you say makes perfect sense. ;P

To be honest, it's been since 2002 for me, and I wouldn't want to be in any other relationship. Now, I of course, am a sentimental kind of person, and cry every time he's not around for an important moment, but there are different ways to show he cares.

When he visited for Christmas, I think that it was a visit that needed to happen, because he was so indecisive about the future. Knowing my world, and how I lived, was an integral part of the decision that we both needed to make, about who would move where. The living in limbo was driving me up the wall.

I was sick the three weeks he was here, and amazingly, he took that extremely well. When we first lived together, he thought it was me faking and being too depressed to do anything.

We've had men hitting on me, women hitting on him, family issues unfold, and even breaking the news to my family (who are not taking this well, just accepting it because I'm the only granddaughter/daughter in the family). But it does make us stronger. Even far apart, I don't think I could ever experience a love like I feel for him right now.

My fiancee and I have been together for almost 6 years. I cry, everytime, without fail. No doubt about it, saying goodbye to him has been the hardest part of being in a long distance relationship. I just spent 160 days with him and still cried like a baby! You would think after all the annoying bits of being with someone, you might just have a bit of a sigh and say, I will see you soon, but it is never the case.
I just got my settlement visa approved and when the woman told me I cried again. I told her it was the happiest call of my life. We never have to say goodbye again, and that is alright by me. Six years is a long time to live this way, but I am positive some people on here have done it much longer. All I can say is it was worth it, I am the happiest person in the world and so lucky to have somehow found this man, even after everything we've been through, it was worth it.

I cried so hard once when leaving my now hubby at Gatwick Airport for his flight home, that I did not pay attention to where I was driving and ended up about 40 miles in the wrong direction! That was a pain in the butt 

I'm so glad I found this forum. I had to drop the boy off at Denver International this morning after a week long visit, and I have been crying on and off all day. My head hurts from it all, haha. I won't see him until June, and it's really stressful trying to figure out if I can even immigrate at all, but yeah, it's not uncommon to cry.

Hey Flip - Just to mention - I'm from Denver too and have cried at DIA more times than I can count either coming back or dropping him off.  I was so proud of myself this last time when we said goodbye at an airport - I only cried AS we were saying bye, not on the entire flight home   Major improvement!

Hey Flip - Just to mention - I'm from Denver too and have cried at DIA more times than I can count either coming back or dropping him off.  I was so proud of myself this last time when we said goodbye at an airport - I only cried AS we were saying bye, not on the entire flight home   Major improvement!

Haha yup, totally understand you there. I, however, seem to have gotten worse at crying. I really wish immigration wasn't so hard...

definitely cry each time...so much so that as my boyfriend was leaving to fly back to the uk this afternoon, i opted to say goodbye in front of my house instead of riding in the cab with him to the airport.  couldn't bear the thought of another half an hour spent sobbing in a bathroom stall...it was much, much easier to say goodbye this way.  now just three more months to wait until our next visit. sigh. 

I usually manage to hold my tears until I'm home. But I think it's a European thing, to be weirded out by crying in airports. When I studied in Italy, my 7 am flight home was canceled and I had to stay an extra day. I had nowhere to stay and nothing to do and I knew nobody there, and I'd been there 4 months and I just wanted to go home. I absolutely broke down in front of the woman at the help desk... and she just stared at me and said "You know, crying won't help the situation." !!!! I wanted to punch her in the face The same thing happened to another girl from my program and she was crying too, and the woman refused to help her until she stopped.

So yeah, it seems like Europeans in general are just really weirded out by crying at airports.

I always think I am going to cry at the airport but managed not to, perhaps a bit of wetness in the eyes but never any drops, however about a week later I have a total meltdown or at least this time I did.  I was a wreck the other day. I woke up fine, had a lovely shower and then when getting dressed broke down sobbing.  *sigh*

I usually manage to hold my tears until I'm home. But I think it's a European thing, to be weirded out by crying in airports. When I studied in Italy, my 7 am flight home was canceled and I had to stay an extra day. I had nowhere to stay and nothing to do and I knew nobody there, and I'd been there 4 months and I just wanted to go home. I absolutely broke down in front of the woman at the help desk... and she just stared at me and said "You know, crying won't help the situation." !!!! I wanted to punch her in the face The same thing happened to another girl from my program and she was crying too, and the woman refused to help her until she stopped.

So yeah, it seems like Europeans in general are just really weirded out by crying at airports.

Wow, I would of cried harder if someone had told me something so comforting like that I think it some ways it is a European thing--I see way more people at least being emotional here at PDX, or in Newark, but I don't see it so much in Birmingham. To cry at PDX isn't uncommon, but I feel like a freak when I do it in the UK. I can understand how some people might be a *little* uncomfortable with someone crying in front of them, but that lady didn't need to be quite so harsh, methinks.

As for getting lost, my fiance was crying too much last time as he was trying to get back to his car, he got lost finding the car park Thankfully he got over it before he got in the car so he didn't get in an accident or anything, but it still broke my heart when he told me that (it takes an act of Congress to get him to be emotional sometimes, so yeah).

I always think I am going to cry at the airport but managed not to, perhaps a bit of wetness in the eyes but never any drops, however about a week later I have a total meltdown or at least this time I did.  I was a wreck the other day. I woke up fine, had a lovely shower and then when getting dressed broke down sobbing.  *sigh*

I'm exactly the opposite. I thought I was going to be absolutely fine in the airport, and then I lost my composure. I didn't make a scene or anything, but tears were streaming. Then after smartening up for security I was fine, and have been ever since.