History TearJerker / ModernFamily

* The opening of "Fears," where everyone on ConfessionCam says his or her biggest fear. Manny says, completely seriously, that his is dying alone. This is a first season episode, by the way. Manny wasn't even a teenager yet.

** Claire's reasons for saying what she said makes it even worse. Because in her own confession she tries to defend herself, but stops midsentence. Coming to the realization that she went too far.

--> '''Mitch:''' Oh,oh, you mean like any of your friends?

** Subverted later in season six, where we see Beth for the first time when she [[spoiler:drops everything in her Coast Guard training and rushes over when Andy is hospitalized.]] Leads to a new TearJerker when Haley opens her heart to him right before Beth walks in.

* In "American Skyper" Andy talks to Phil about his doubts on [[spoiler: proposing to Beth]] because he has feelings for someone else. Phil talks to him for a while before Andy decides to stay with Beth. Later, Phil is talking to Haley, who realizes/admits that she is in love with Andy. Andy then comes in to say goodbye, because he and Beth are going to watch the sunset, and [[spoiler: we assume he's about to propose]]. Phil, whose skype-robot is still in the room then realizes that Haley was the girl Andy was talking about earlier. He tries to call out to them, but ''his camera has been muted''. The episode ends with Haley walking Andy to the door, him leaving with Beth, and Haley storming back into the house in frustration.

--> '''Earl's note:''' "As young men, we'd hike this path up to an old oak tree,where we'd brainstorm how to conquer the closet universe. We foolishly thought that we knew everything back then. But hopefully, I've learned a few things through the years. Like, live today as if there's no tomorrow, that it's not too late to right past wrongs, and when things are looking down, look up or take chances you never imagined you would."

-->'''Phil:''' ''(tearfully)'' She was always doing crazy stuff like this. Going out of her way to take care of us. I coughed on the phone once and she overnighted me soup. When I wanted to learn how to ski, she knit me a sweater. When I wanted to be a marine biologist, she knit me a sweater with a whale on it. Who does that? It’s just the kind of person she is. Was.

* Claire vents aloud all these changes she’s experienced in just a few short months, primarily Haley’s pregnancy. It’s enough to make the calmest woman overwhelmed.

* Cam and Mitch '' finally '' meeting their son.

** After the Dunphy kids all announce they’re moving out, Claire and Phil hear all their chaos and say to each other how much they’ll miss it. A feeling a lot of empty-nesters relate to.

** Alex later comes home to sleep in her old bed, though things take a semi-humorous turn because Dylan is there. It's a desperately sad thing when the family member who barely fits in feels she has no one.
* In the season 7 finale "Double-Click", Alex comes home for the summer and finds herself ignored or brushed off by the ret of the family, who proceed to make comments about her "surprise visit" throwing a wrench in things or ask why she's in the house. She's clearly deeply hurt by this, and by having to make her own "welcome home" dinner because no one else acknowledged the day. However, the family isn't ignoring or mistreating her on purpose; they're all preoccupied by their own stresses (Claire needing to let an employee go, Phil struggling with the idea of Luke growing up after catching a girl in his bed, and Haley finding out Andy got a job offer back in Ohio). It's a difficult time for all the Dunphys, made even worse by them not being able to lean on each other. Claire's closing monologue is what sells it:

** “Not everybody gets to have what we have.” For many viewers, the show was their substitute family and that line reiterated how much love the show gave to people. Also is a reminder of the cast and crew and how blessed they were to be in a long-running show, where they all felt like family.

Yeah, this is a show full as [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious moments]] and [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments the sweetest scenes]], but it still has those moments, scenes, and dialogue that make one teary.

* On their way to [[spoiler: Sal's]] wedding, Mitchell and Cameron hint at their resentment that they can't be the ones getting married, especially since the (opposite-sex) couple whose wedding it is have only been together for a few weeks in contrast to their eight years. It's kept uncharacteristically low-key for the two of them, which just underlines how strongly they feel about it. It's over in about two lines of dialogue but it is heartbreaking while it's going on. It's lessened later when gay marriage is legalized and the two do become married.

** Another moment worth noting is when Claire goes to the chalkboard and adds up the hours of homework each of Alex's classes expect of her. It only leaves Alex with a few hours a day to herself, ''not'' including sleep.

* In the pilot, while at Mitch and Cam's house, Jay makes an insensitive comment on his son and partner adopting a baby: "A baby needs a mother and father." Then, when he thought that Mitch and Cam had broken up, he wasn't exactly being "Father of the Year".

* In "The Wedding Part 1," we see Sal in a flashback agreeing to officiate Cam and Mitch's wedding while drinking vodka heavily. Cut forward to the actual wedding, and Sal is at the end of a pregnancy. This means ''Sal was unknowingly drinking while pregnant.''

* In "The Closet Case", Alex finds out that Sanjay has broken up with her.
** Luke comes to her dorm room for mint/mouthwash and despite having the chance to make out with a girl he holds himself back long enough to find out what's happened. He then says 'This is probably something you want to deal with on your own'. Alex replies with a quiet, and utterly broken 'I am alone.'
** Alex later comes home to sleep in her old bed, though things take a semi-humorous turn because Dylan is there (don't ask), it's a desperately sad thing when the family member who barely fits in feels she has no one.

Yeah, this is a show with [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments hilarious moments]] and [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments the sweetest scenes]]; it also has the moments, scenes, and dialogue that make one teary.

--> '''Mitch:''' ''(crying) '' Every time someone says that we’re getting a baby, I get my hopes up and then. And then, when it all falls apart, we just have to go through the whole thing again. And then meanwhile, the child that we do have is at a recital and and we’re missing it.

** “Life is full of change. Some big. Some small. I learned a long time ago, you can fight it, or you can try to make the best of it, and that’s all a lot easier if you’ve got people who love you helping you face whatever life throws at you. At least that’s what helps me sleep at night.”
*** The clips during that [[BookEnds mirror the clips of the very first episode, 11 years ago.]]