Standing Strong together is the way to go for sure, And I agre ethere is times we need to stand strong but i think its essential to have someone or some people around who you can truly express your feelings with and not let them bottle up inside us. And yes I can relate to what you are saying a bout letting. Yourself be weak, I went through the same understanding and now I do not think of it as being weak, I see it as needing a support network to help me deal witht he pain I had bottled up inside me, wearing the mask of strength at the time did help those around me and they needed that, but the long time effect was for a few years I became a person that looking back i didnt like, becaus eI realize now I had locked up the emotions of the loss but so many others and I had become a shell of what I could have been.

Luckily i meet my Current Wife quite a few years later when I was starting to let down the walls and she gave me the strength to shatter them all and I am in a far better state now and so much happier with who and what I am

And no thanks needed thanks to you for this post which inspired me to share my feelings

YOu to have a blessed day