There were many tears on the House Floor Wednesday as Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) offered her resignation from Congress. So many, in fact, that no one’s emotions stood out as unusual — among the criers was, of course, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has been known to shed a tear or two. In this story by Roll Call‘s Jason Dick, we see he had a gavel in one hand, a tissue in the other.

“Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), an emotional man known for his public weeping, was joined in tears by others as he wielded the gavel in one hand and a tissue in the other. For a few fleeting moments, last year’s partisan warfare never happened. Virtually everyone wanted to kiss Giffords as she made her way through the chamber, to the well, and onto the dais to hand-deliver her resignation letter to Boehner. Everyone felt connected to her.”