Memorial Day at Arlington Cemetery

Tom had to work Monday for the ceremonies at Arlington Cemetery.  The president always lays a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknowns and then there's a short program in the amphitheater which is directly behind the tomb area.

Taylor's friend Mariah is here visiting from Utah and I thought they might want to go but they decided to do their own thing so I went by myself.

 As you came in the gates you were given two roses, one to put on a grave and another to keep.

I decided to walk up to the tomb rather than wait for the shuttle which had a huge line waiting.  Whenever the president appears anyplace, security is crazy tight and because of this the short way to the tomb was closed off and so it was quite a little trek to get there. It is really a gorgeous and special place though and well worth the walk.  This display was at the entrance of the tomb.

So my plan was to watch the changing of the guards at the tomb then just wait there for the wreath ceremony then just listen to the program from outside the amphitheatre because I knew I couldn't do both.  There were zillions of people pushed up against the tomb area however, and I've discovered that some people just aren't on their best behavior at these things so I backed out and watched this little girl sing and dance to this tree!

 Then I worked my way over to see if I could get in the amphitheatre (which I did) however it was so stinkin' crowded I thought my claustrophobia was going to get the best of me.  I had visions of flipping out and security taking me down in front of thousands of people.  I went back towards the tomb and suddenly they started making everyone clear a path on the sidewalk.  So I assumed they were bringing the president through.  I thought, if nothing else I'm going to get a great picture since I'm standing right here!  Then Tom sent me a text to find out where I was and came and plucked me out of the crowd and walked me in through the special entrance and right down front of the theatre to sit on 4 big open seating areas.  Yeah, people who have been sitting in the hot sun for a couple of hours aren't crazy about the person who gets whisked past them to the front rows.  That didn't make me turn it down however.

 This young soldier performed a gorgeous national anthem and later got a standing ovation for America the Beautiful.  He came and sat down right in front of me afterwards.  I put my hand on his back and told him what a gorgeous job he did.  He gave me a big smile and thumbs up!  Yeah, it had to be pretty cool to knock it out of the park in the front of the president and on national tv.

Michele Obama

The president and Chuck Hagel with other distinguished guests

Tom looking very secret service like

So this is the press corps who I was sitting with.  They didn't come in until right before the president and they came in from that door Tom is standing next to.  They all sit, then get to go up one at a time and take 2 photos while the president is speaking.  It must be annoying to have your every move documented.

Taps at the end of the service

Retiring of the colors

 At the end of the program Tom had to stay with the press corps so he helped me out a back exit and then took off.  We have a friend who is buried at Arlington so I decided to try and find her grave.  A marine had downloaded an ap on my phone that was supposed to help but I was struggling with it.  PLUS, I had lost my glasses and for those of you who struggle with poor eyesight, that was very frustrating.

There was a large coalition of people in these red TAPS shirts.  Families of fallen soldiers who were in DC attending a seminar and grief camp for the children.

This woman was out putting roses on graves and as she placed each one she said out loud...."Thank you".

 I found the same Marine again and he tried putting in the name but for some reason it wasn't working.  I had to walk all the way back to the visitor's center where they looked it up and gave me a map to find her.  Of course, it was all the way back up to where I had been and further........but I finally found it!
Deb was an awesome lady that Tom had worked with on some projects at HAFB but I knew her from church.  We also served together on the Davis County Arts Council Board. She and her husband were a little older but adopted this darling african-american baby they named Anthony.  He was in my Sunday School class for a couple of years from the time he was two. Smart as a whip and cute as a bug.  Anyway, Deb got cancer and it grew pretty quickly.  Such a loss.  Anyway, left her some roses and got a photo to send to Dave and Anthony.

 I thought I would catch the shuttle on the way down since there were still people waiting in line and to save myself another mile and a half walk.  I waited about 20 minutes and just kept watching this little boy who moved from stone to stone and just stood and looked at them. But he spent like 5 minutes at each one.

 Finally I decided I could walk faster than waiting for that shuttle so down I headed again!

Tomb of the Unknowns

 I got home and Tom had already been there for over an hour napping, but we decided to head downtown and see what was going on.  The parade was just wrapping up but we still got to see some fun things.

 We got separated and Tom ended up in the tent where the dignitaries had been sitting (yeah, go figure) and came out with an official program and a white chocolate covered graham cracker with the parade insignia on it!

 We made a big loop around town, watched the paddle boats, and stopped to water our plants before heading home and crashing for the evening.

Memorial Day Weekend in NJ

 No, this doesn't look like Memorial Day but I just got the photo from Nicole (Denny and Kathy's daughter) so thought I would include it.  A combined family from both Mike's and Nicole's first marriages plus a couple of their own!

So when we got to Marie's Thursday night, we could tell Bows (Eleanor's cat) did not look well.  He's basically stopped eating, has a tumor the size of a plum which is clearly causing him pain, is 17 years old and apparently has not been himself for several weeks.  Marie took him in after Eleanor died but he's ready to go too.  Tom and Marie took him to the vet and they very gently put him to sleep.  They said the staff was really wonderful.

 Tom and I spent Friday back at Eleanor's house going through stuff as they now have the house up for sale.  It still needs a lot of work so I may be making a trip back to do some painting.

 Some stuff we came across.....

 I'm going to get these pretty Lenox lamps.....

 After several hours of work I ran over to town to grab us some subs.  This Joe and John's place has been here for a long time but apparently there was a family spat and other Joe and John's or some versions there of are in other parts of town.....hence THIS is the original and only location!

Downtown Absecon

 Friday night while Tom and Marie were dealing with the cat, I stayed home to make dinner which Marie carefully set out.  Meatloaf, macaroni and cheese & stewed tomatoes.  Every ingredient in it's own little container, ready to be added.  I felt like I had my own cooking show.  She likes things just so and I didn't want to screw anything up.

The whole purpose of this trip was to take Eleanor's ashes out to the pier and throw them into the ocean.  So Tom and I got up early (Since we were meeting the family at 8 AM the next morning) to make sure we could actually get out there that early.  I dropped Tom off and he took a quick jaunt out while I idled on a side street.  The weather was cold and dreary so the usual kick off weekend for summer was kind of a bust.  Atlantic City is really struggling right now.  See, even Donald doesn't care if his sign looks old, broken and crappy.

 From there we headed over to Joe and Karen's to help them with things around their house.  Joe has started his new job in NC while Karen has stayed in NJ to finish getting the house ready for the market.  She was painting, stepped off the ladder and onto a paint can then fell and sprained her ankle something awful.  So while Tom and Joe moved furniture and took stuff to storage, I painted doors and trim while Karen wrapped things for packing.

Maggie and Marina wanting me to play rather than paint.

We got quite a bit done but planned to come back the next afternoon to finish up before heading home.  They bought us an awesome cheeseburger lunch that was delivered, but not until 3:00 so when Marie let us know Victor's fishing trip was postponed due to weather and he wanted us to join them for dinner we hesitated.  But after we got home, showered and re-set we decided to go and just have something lite.  Again, we were at the Crab Trap where they all know him and Tom and I both had a bowl of Crab Bisque.  OH MY GOSH.....so good!  Really, it was just perfect.

So, as is often the case with the Cowan family, firm planning is really non-existent.  So the next morning when we were supposed to be meeting, Dennis called and he had to show a boat to a customer who had come from NY.  Wasn't sure how long he was going to be so we got ahold of Joe just as he was heading to Atlantic City and postponed until later when Dennis was free.  So Marie went to the "building" (Victor's car museum) to hang out with the guys (they meet every morning for coffee and treats) and Tom and I went back to Joe and Karen's for more painting.  We finished the last bedroom and as it was getting late it was decided to postpone the distributing of the ashes for another day.  An upside to cremation I suppose.

We went back to Marie's and decided to burn all of Eleanor's old documents rather than have Marie have to shred them all at work.  The cast iron top of this stove fell off on Tom's toe which is now a very bright black and blue.  Ouch!  I sat and went over papers again to make sure we weren't burning anything important and pulling out anything that looked questionable.  I found one old plastic checking account book that had a $100 bill tucked inside so that was a good find!  It took a couple of hours so Marie grilled some hot dogs then Tom helped her plant some marigolds in her yard while I continued burning.

 We took off so we could stop by the Veteran's Cemetery where Tom's dad is buried on our way home.  Took us a while to find it and his headstone once we got there but we finally did it!  Finally rolled into DC around 10 PM smelling like we'd been camping.  Long Day!