To Remember

It was about 7:15 on Saturday evening when we pulled in to our local National Cemetery.  It's a tiny piece of land on the outskirts of town, that we just happened to drive by several weeks ago on one of our "let's drive around because the kids fell asleep" rides through the country.  On this night, we didn't just drive by, we drove in.  We drove in with a purpose...

To Remember.

As Camdyn hopped out of the car she asked me if she could go play.  "No, you may not.  This is not a place to play, this is a place to remember the soliders that died for our freedoms.  This is a place where we pay respect to our soliders."  "What soliders Momma?"  "The ones that are memorialized, or buried here." 

And then we began to walk down the wide aisle in the middle of the grounds.  She asked me what each solider's name was and which war he fought in.  "His name was Edward, and he was born in 1939, and he fought in the Korean war...he had a long life."  She carefully looked at each stone that lined the aisle, careful not to walk between them.

She learned today that our freedom is not free.  She learned that soliders make a sacrifice and that sometimes they don't get to come back home.  She learned how to pay respect today.

As we turned to leave, with tears in her eyes she said, "I'm worried for these soliders, Momma."

"Yes, my love.  We worry for them and we are grateful for them."