Camille was getting a closer look at a stone.
To be honest, Cam wasn't thrilled to go to Arlington again. She wanted to see things she hadn't seen before. I told her to open her eyes, and really try to see things she hadn't noticed before, and to enjoy the beautiful day in the sunshine. We had a few things on our agenda at the cemetery...
The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier...Adrian hadn't been here before. He also has an uncle buried in Arlington, and found his tombstone and took a picture of it for his mother.
The sheer magnitude, the expanse of this place is overwhelming.
This was my point of view most of the time, stopping to smell the roses, or rather read the stones, then hurrying to catch up.
This poor young man died right after his 21st birthday.
Long story short, Camille ended up having a really good time. These stones tell stories, and for what it's worth, we acknowledge the sacrifices they made, and walk through the rows, thankful for life, for freedom. The kids learned how to figure out the ages of the deceased, so it was a good math lesson. Sam is ever the good teacher, too.
We stopped at a fresh grave, covered in flowers and still without a headstone, Samuel was part of the funeral just a few weeks ago, when a young major passed away, one of Sam's fellow soldiers. We stopped and shed a few tears for him. A few feet away from his grave was a woman sitting in a lawn chair, right in front of what I assume was her husband's stone. She just sat there in the sunshine. That alone was enough to bring on the tears.
We also visited the Marine Memorial.
These flowers also evoked the prickling of a few tears. Who placed them there? A wife, an old veteran who lost his buddies, or maybe a patriotic young person who is just plain thankful?
And now I have to go to return the rental car....
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