In Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day

I am still in VA and today my friend, her mother and I drove to Arlington National Cemetery to lay roses at the grave of her father/her mother's husband. This is my second time at Arlington Cemetery but my first on a national holiday.

There was a lot of traffic going in so many people had the same idea. Once we reached a certain point of the park, we turned off and it was like we were alone. My friend commented that it was so quiet she could hear the birds. Where did all that traffic go that just minutes ago we were in the middle of?

Her father's ashes are stored in an urn in the "wall" of gravestones called columbariums. I believe that is the proper term for that. There are four metal "roses" at each corner. You take a string or rubber band to create a slot to hold flowers over the niche. We each left a red rose for my friend's father. He was a career military man who served for many years in the Air Force.

Rows of white tombstones

I walked to the hill and from there could see down to the rows of white gravestones of soldiers buried there many many years ago. Each tomb had an American flag in front of it. My husband told me he heard on the news that the flags were planted by volunteers. There are instructed to place their boot against the tomb and the flag is placed behind their heel. That is how they keep them straight in rows. Military precision. Its humbling to be here on a holiday specifically for remembering the soldiers.

I took a moment of silence to express my appreciation to the soldiers for their sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you.