Memorial Day

Every year on Memorial Day we visit the Lexington Cemetery to plant flags on the soldiers graves there. It moves me and humbles me every time we do it. The graves are laid in a circle around a large flagpole and American flag.

There are soldiers buried there covering every war, including the most recent. I watched as both my 6 year old and 2 year old became silent and walked amongst the graves. Elisabeth stopped to read a lot of them. She was particularly struck by graves of Unknown Soldiers. Jacob is at an age where he doesn't completely comprehend why we were there but something inside him was visibly moved by the experience. He walked amongst the headstones, gently touching them as he moved through them. Every once in a while, he would pause with his hand upon one. It made me wonder if he sensed that this one needed a little more attention than the others.






We discussed why it is important to Matthew and I to do this.


We planted a flag for all the Unknown Soldiers who are unknown to us but had a life and people who loved them.




We planted flags at the graves of African American Soldiers.



We planted a flag at a particularly haunting grave.



We sought out graves with family names to honor our family members who have served in the military. Dad, Uncle Ralph, Uncle Kenny, Pappy.




More importantly, we extracted ourselves from our busy lives for just a few moments to remember those who have given their lives in the name of our freedom.


We will remember. Not just today but always.