Arlington National Cemetery

Last week we went to a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery.

The man who passed away went to our church and was retired from the Navy. It was a difficult day for the family, so I'm glad we were able to go and be with them.

I'd never been there before, but it's a beautiful, peaceful place right in the middle of Washington, DC.
Of course we've all seen pictures of this cemetery before, but pictures alone cannot describe how massive it really is!! There are over 300,000 people buried on its 624 acres. Approximately 30 funerals are held there every weekday.

God bless all of our service men and women.




The three-volley salute.
It may be kind of hard to see
with the white uniforms and the white stones.




This was a different funeral,
but we thought it was a good picture.
Everything there is very ceremonial and precise.

~*~

The next two pictures were taken from our car
on the way to the funeral.




The Pentagon
This is the side that was attacked on 9/11.
What a sad day that was.
If you look closely above the pedestrian sign,
you can see the difference in the color of the wall.
The part that was replaced is a little bit lighter.




The Washington Monument

~*~

The weather was beautiful that day and we were able to get some great pictures. It was nice to see a few places in our nation's capital. America...home sweet home.
I hope you're all doing well. :)

Take care,
Melanie

Kindness Matters

"We may learn the finest arts of life - music, painting, sculpture, poetry, or may master the noblest sciences, or by means of reading, study, travel, and converse with refined people, may attain the best culture; but if in all this we do not learn love, and become more gentle in spirit and act, we have missed the prize of living. If in the midst of all our duties, cares, trials, joys, sorrows, we are not day by day growing in sweetness, in gentleness, in unselfishness, in thoughtfulness, and in all the branches of love, we are not learning the great lesson set for us by our Master in this school of life."

-J.R. Miller

The Best Laid Plans...

It's been one of those weeks.

There were so many things I had planned to do before the school year started.

My throat started hurting Friday night and it was all downhill from there. I have either been in the bed or the recliner since then. Thankfully, I had already gotten some things accomplished before I got sick. I'm trying to do a little bit today and ease myself back into the land of the living. Lee and Katie have been a wonderful help! They've cooked, washed dishes and clothes, and taken great care of me. :)

Please keep the people on the east coast in your prayers. This hurricane has been a real nail biter! It looks like it's going to miss us here in eastern Virginia, but it's still going to be a rough couple of days for a lot of people.

On a happier note, I would like to wish my dad a very happy birthday today! He's such a wonderful dad. He retired in April after making paper for MeadWestvaco since 1963 (minus the time he was in Vietnam). Paper production went down after he retired, so he was asked to come back to work a few days a week as a consultant. We're all pretty proud of him.

I'm hoping to come around and visit. I've missed seeing what you're up to!

Hope you're all doing well. :)

Melanie