Sacred Ground

Over the years, we have visited Washington D.C. several times. We've been fortunate to have family members living near D.C. for the past several years. Our first visits to D.C. were to spend time with Shannon (my sister) and Scott and their family. We loved visiting the Smithsonian, Mt. Vernon and the many monuments surrounding The National Mall. Shannon and Scott eventually moved away from the D.C. area; however, Lindsay (Brooke's youngest sister) and Cameron and their family have lived near D.C. for the past couple of years, which has given us the opportunity to visit the area a few more times.

Last fall, we held a family renunion in D.C. to participate in the blessing of Cameron and Lindsay's son. The blessing and reunion were a wonderful experience. With the exception of a brief window of sunshine for a family picture, however, the weather limited our sightseeing to the Smithsonian Museums. We were a little disappointed that we didn't have the opportunity to take the boys to see the monuments that surround TheNational Mall. Tanner, Kaden and Trevor have seen them before, but they were all very young and do not remember them well.

The weather for our trip last week more than made up for the weather last fall. It was spectacular! We spent almost every waking hour outside and were able to visit most of the major monuments and memorials that surround The National Mall. Although we have visited D.C. several times in the past, we had never taken the opportunity to visit Arlington National Cemetery. This time, we made it one or our first stops.

It was a very humbling experience for me to visit Arlington. I was both impressed and grateful for the tremendous amount of care and attention to detail that is given to each gravesite in this sacred place. The seemingly endless rows of perfectly aligned white headstones are a vivid reminder of the great sacrifices made by individuals and families over the years to protect the freedoms that we are so abundantly blessed with in this country. I was unable to find a single headstone that was not perfectly aligned and the grounds are truly immaculate. The bright white headstones seem to stand at attention against the backdrop provided by the deep green fields of grass. The entire scene elicits feelings of honor and respect for these brave men and women.

Our small procession slowly made its way past the rows of white headstones up to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier where we were able to witness The Changing of the Guard. Although there was a large crowd trying to view this impressive ceremony (probably due to the great weather), we were able to see most of the ceremony. The precision of this ceremony is remarkable. It is amazing to realize that members of The Old Guard are out there guarding the Tomb around the clock 365 days a year. Twenty-one steps down the mat and twenty-one steps back hour after hour.

Our experience in Arlington is one that I will not quickly forget. It was a poignant reminder of the blessings that have been bestowed upon those of us who live in relative peace and freedom. We could all feel a powerful sense of awe and appreciation for those blessings and the tremendous price that has been paid for them as we walked across those sacred grounds.