This year on Memorial Day, I did something I have never done before. I actually celebrated the holiday the way it was intended: paying my respects to those that have fought for our country, our freedom and America's honor. I went to Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, which was surprisingly only 11 miles from my house - in Dallas.
Here are a few facts about the cemetery:
1. It was opened in 2000 with the first burial happening on May 15, 2000.
2. It covers 638.5 acres.
3. It serves 460,000 veterans in the north Texas area.
4. More than 3,000 burials are conducted each year.
5. When fully developed, the cemetery will provide approximately 280,000 burial sites.
6. Each site is 10' x 5' exactly - so that they make a formation, as if they are soldiers.
The cemetery was breathtaking, sad, and humbling all at the same time. I went alone and I'm kind of glad I did. It gave me time to reflect on why I wanted to come, why everyone should come, and how grateful I am for the sacrifices that these soldiers and their families have made.
Obviously since I am not from this area, I do not know anyone buried in the cemetery. But I do have relatives that fought in WWII and they are buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in St. Paul, Minnesota. My grandpa Larsen's brother was on the beaches of Normandy in WWII and his bunkmate in the war ended up marrying my Grandpa's sister. So I have 2 great uncles who deserve the respect and gratitude just like everyone else in this cemetery and others like it across the country.
I found it especially moving to see loved ones grieving or honoring their family member's grave. How powerful. Some just stood there solemnly, some sat next to the grave on the ground and kind of hung out, some were sobbing. WOW - that just tore my heart out to see.
Everything was so perfectly aligned - it really did make a powerful statement....
And something I saw several times as I walked up and down rows of graves, reading the names and inscriptions was: school buses! A lot of kids in DFW had to make up a snow day (from when we got 12 inches of snow and schools were closed down for days) on Memorial Day, so I guess some Dallas schools decided that an appropriate "lesson" for this school day was to bus them out to the National Cemetery and teach them what Memorial Day is all about.
I absolutely LOVED seeing those buses drive through and letting the kids out. What a great way to teach children about those heroes that came before them - that they weren't just robots in uniforms, but REAL people with REAL lives and REAL families that were left behind when they died. Kids need to learn these things so they can appreciate everything they have and know who to thank for all of it.
Here's one of the buses:
I went at about 8:45am and had no problem getting in - just drove in and found a spot to park along the winding road that goes through the cemetery. But by the time I left, the line down the street to get in the main entrance was 2 miles long - just sitting there. I'm glad I went early (I wanted to get there early because it was going to be 95 and sunny and it would be cooler in the morning) because it was packed by the time I left at 11:00am!
It was so great to see that so many people in this area were flocking to this place of honor to pay their respects. I hope I wasn't the only one that came without knowing someone specifically that was buried there. It's EVERY American's duty to do this, in my opinion.
Here, the cars kept flowing in, one after another, for the whole time I was there and it was so great to see!
This was one of the banks of 'mausoleum-style' burial plots for cremated remains. They were little markers in these long rows and there were SO MANY rows. This is where I saw the woman just SOBBING for her loved one earlier. It just tore my heart right out.
And as you can see, this row is not totally full. It's waiting for more heroes to die in order to fill up the spaces. Thank God there are so many heroes in our world.
And here's an "empty" marker on the wall, but it won't be for long. It looks like someone has died and has a 'reservation' for this spot. It was just very sobering to be right there looking at it.
Here are some loved ones, searching for their family member's grave. It was really neat because at the visitors center, there is an electronic kiosk and you can enter the information you know about someone who is buried there and it will pull up their record and then print out a cemetery map and show you were their grave is. What a wonderful idea!
There is a pretty lake right next to the cemetery - this is a shot of the entrance and the lake across the street.
There is also this little pond in the middle of the cemetery - very pretty resting place, if you ask me. They also had kind of a bandshell/stage and there were military bands playing patriotic songs and a TON of people were gathered down there.
I really want to come back to this cemetery on a quiet day as well, to reflect. It's a powerful experience and I would recommend it to EVERY SINGLE American to do this, even if it's a regular day and not Memorial Day. The lady at the visitors center told me that a ton of people come out on Memorial Day, but hardly anyone comes out for Veteran's Day. I think I might just do that!
I'm so glad I took this opportunity to experience pure gratitude and just stood in awe of the bravery and service that was all encompassing at that one place. Truly AMAZING.
I normally would call today's post "The Outtakes" from the National Cemetery, but that would take away from the power of what these pictures captured during my morning of gratitude on Memorial Day in Dallas.....but I think they are interesting, so I wanted to share.
OK, so I am still human (and a 32-year-old single woman) - I was driving out and I saw these Marines gathered......and I had to take a picture of their hotness in uniform!
And the family members occasionally took some liberties with humorous inscriptions on the gravestones......this man was obviously a proud Texas A&M graduate - they put "Aggie" before Marine! HA!
And this stone I just loved - "I have finished my course."
Something they did at the visitors center was to give out flags to put next to graves (if you didn't bring your own). I didn't think of it at first, but then I went over and asked the man if I could have one to put on a grave that didn't have a flag. He gave me one and I went out into the rows of graves (and there are a LOT of rows) to find "my soldier." 
I saw this at one of the rows of cremation graves - a Pepsi bottle! I really really hope that it wasn't just litter, but I don't think it was. It was sort of deliberately set in a specific place and I also noticed that it was opened and little bit was gone......as if they were sharing a Pepsi with their loved one and left the rest for their buddy. If that's the case, then I think I might cry, even just typing this and remembering it!
And this lady just struck me when I saw her. I took this picture with full zoom, so I wasn't standing close to her at all or disturbing her peace. But she looked both sad and comfortable all at the same time. I'm guessing that she was there visiting her late husband's grave, but for some reason, it just really moved me. It was like watching two people on a porch, passing the day away together. Wow.
