Remembering at Arlington National Cemetery

Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider1.jpg

When my husband I first moved to the DC Metro area in 2004, we made it a habit to visit Arlington National Cemetery during Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday, my children and I braved the muggy weather and enjoyed a morning talking, thinking, and walking (lots and lots of walking) through the cemetery. My son asks some really deep questions--try explaining symbols, death, and remembrance to a preschooler. I did my best, and I'm glad we went. They were both quiet as church mice during the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider (although the smarties I kept slipping Little Tiny certainly helped.)  He loved the flyover, she loved walking in a crowd of hundreds of people, and I appreciated the time to reflect.  So much so, that we walked entirely in the wrong direction and ended up very tired, very hot, and very sticky. Luckily (???) our church services aren't until 3pm, so we had plenty of time to sit in traffic come home and rest before church.