Arlington Cemetery is one of those places that you have to visit when you come to Washington DC. The cemetery is beautiful, peaceful, saddening and yet hopeful. Visiting with young kids takes away a bit of the opportunity for contemplation, but my hope is in a trade off of small seeds of impression planted in each of their minds about the sacrifices of so many for the benefit of the whole. About the greatness of a country that believes in personal pursuit of freedom, a people who has walked out their words in the past and can, and must, continue to do so in the future. A sense that while we may feel that we are each making our own way, in truth we stand because we are lifted up on the shoulders of those who have come before.
Arlington is one of those places that allows history to breathe with life. That might seem counterintuitive, but for me, it’s impossible to walk the grounds without feeling the silent urging from all who lay there. “This is it.” “This is your life.” “Live it now.” They are gone, but they are not lost and their lives and deaths stand in witness to this moment. This moment that we have. To live.
Looking towards the city from John F. Kennedy’s gravesite.
Robert E. Lee’s home. Arlington was built upon his estate after the land was acquired by the federal government. The story of how this came to be is interesting and worth a read.
Littlest dude has always been obsessed with drains. Of all kinds. How will this play out in his future interests and aptitudes? What can be said about a person who takes great joy in drains?? :)
Find more images of Arlington Cemetery, as well as tips on photos to take, here.
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