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Yesterday, I attended a service at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery, a local burial grounds for the US Military in Rittman Ohio. I’ve heard that it was a beautiful facility, but had never been there before.
Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery
It was indeed lovely, but as we drove into the front entrance, this thought popped into my head: “Oh this is really nice, Daniel (my son) could be buried here.” This thought upset me of course, and I was on a good start at being emotionally unbalanced for the service itself.
Incidentally, the photo is from the cemetery website. This time of year, the grounds are snow covered. I did take a photo, but somehow my camera ate it before I got home.
The service was for the elderly brother of a friend; although I had met him once, I certainly did not know him, so unfortunately I cannot tell you much about him except that he had been in the Army. His name was Gerald Mapes.
The service was outdoors; the temperature was around 12 degrees Fahrenheit. We were warned that it was going to be outdoors, so we were prepared with warm coats. What we were not prepared for was the fact that we had to sit on metal benches which had been out in this cold all winter. For about 20 minutes. I have to admit that my mind wandered sometimes during the service, when I wondered if my backside was still attached, because I could no longer feel it – it was so cold.
The weather itself was beautiful, at least during the service. It was sunny for that short time and there was a very light snow falling. The snowflakes truly sparkled in the rare winter Ohio sunlight, and I have to admit that I was mesmerized by the sparkling. I felt a great peace watching it.
January 22, 2009 at 12:43 pm
[...] Flag at Half Staff January 22, 2009 — rosemarie h. When at the funeral service the other day, we noticed that the flag was flying at half staff. We wondered if it was always at [...]
January 22, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Ooooo, brrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I could feel those cold metal chairs. I also felt that twinge of sadness when you talked about being a military mom passing through that gate.
January 23, 2009 at 12:55 pm
I do believe that my tush has finally recovered.
It was really odd about that burial spot for my son. When I saw the entrance, it was so pretty there. My mind was really in a happy place and that thought about him being buried there was actually quite upbeat.
Then I became horrified at being happy about my son’s burial spot. All I can say is that it really is a beautiful place, and I hope that if he does end up there – it’s not during MY lifetime… and I’m not hoping for an early demise for myself either.