Emotions and Crying

This is such a tough subject for me---
Primarily because it has such a "double edge".
On one hand you live for the moments your child actually experiences typical behavior and feelings;
On the other it tears your heart out to see them sad or confused or even elevated with aggression because their brain does have the capability to decipher whats "normal" and whats not!
I REALLY HATE USING THE WORDS TYPICAL OR NORMAL OR REGULAR . Sometimes it is the only way to describe what I know as a person who does not have Autism and what I see and experience as a mother of a child who has lived with Autism for over 20 years.

Recently Dakota seems to have heightened emotions which are manifesting in crying many times. He has had some new awakenings about many feelings and emotions, not just sad ones, but those are the ones that are most difficult to deal with . When he puckers up and becomes distraught it is a helpless feeling because he is unable to reason WHY he is feeling sad. The natural progression of an interaction would be to show compassion and/or empathy and to try to comfort Dakota. The difficult part is that he cannot express what is triggering his sadness and tears.
Then I arrive at a place where the more I press him sometimes causes the emotions to escalate yet if I ignore them I often feel like I have missed an opportunity to crack open another little part of "normalcy". 

The hardest part of all is that this has spilled over into other situations outside of home . That makes it even harder because others are really baffled how to handle it.There does seems to be some predictability to it, as small as it seems, the crying almost always follows the end to something-- whether it be a movie or a goodbye to a person or even leaving one place to go to another. I know that in someways that seems obvious but in other ways it almost seems too simple.
No one ever has said that Autism is simple . I do know that sometimes the most simple solutions are the best for our kids. Being practical and utilizing your "gut" feeling is almost always the best way to handle any situation .

For now this is one of the most pressing issues or at least tone of the most predominant- I know we have been going through many stages with various behaviors and I am sure there will be more as the years roll by . The one assurance I have is that with every day and every issues I learn a little more about my guy and it makes me a better parent to help him through this world!