On July 9th we decided to head out and visit Arlington National Cemetery. After
only 14 miles away, 90+ minutes and about 17 wrong turns that kept landing us at
the Pentagon, we were ready for lunch. So we ate in downtown DC at some “Burger
Palace” and actually enjoyed it very much!
We then regrouped and found our way to the cemetery.
Wow. I don’t think that I could even begin to describe how
humbling and impressive Arlington was for our family. We talked to the boys on
the way there about respect and what that word really meant. We explained to
them our expectations of the day and they said that they understood. My prayer
wasn’t just that they understood our rules, but that they would understand the
reason for our rules.
Nathan and I were very much impressed with the boys and how they
acted while we were there. Especially during the changing of the guard
ceremony. We sat right down in front and watched the soldier march in front of
the tomb back and forth for over twenty minutes. And then, we watched as the
new solider marched up and changed positions with the original one. The entire
thing was beautiful and so heart warming. After it was all over, I realized
that we had been sitting for a good thirty minutes in the heat and sun, but our
boys had not spoken one word. They had sat there and watched the entire event
in complete awe and yes, respect. We were very proud of them. We then waited
until we caught up with the guard after he changed clothes so that the boys
could meet him. I’m not sure if it was the heat, the sun or his emotions, but
I’m pretty sure that this strong young man got tears in his eyes when our three
small boys shook his hand and told him thank you for being in the army. He even
stopped before getting on his bus, turned around and waved again at our family.
I hope my boys made his day.
After we had been there for a while, Zachary, who also had been
very quiet throughout the day, decided to tell us that he wants to go into the
Army. And in his words, “I hope I get to get into the Army despite what my
heart might do one day. And you know what, Mom? I don’t care if I die.
Because I know where I’m going. I just want to serve my country.” It’s a
beautiful thing to hear your child talk about it – but it is also a very scary
thing too. Zachary spent the day dreaming; I spent the day praying for serenity
and for God’s plan on Zachary’s life.
The boys decided to say a prayer of thanks and to pray for the
families of the men and women who died and were buried there. Eli said it best
when we asked him later how he felt when looking at of the graves. He replied,
“It made me sad. They all died protecting us.” I think they understand it
now. And this picture below, quite possibly is now one of my favorite pictures
of them ever.
I took a ton of pictures so I put most of them in this slide show that I am still working on creating. But I
did want to post some highlights from the day too. This is definitely a place we will visit again.
0 comments:
Post a Comment