Meeting with Fate at Arlington National Cemetery

As I’ve gotten to know my boyfriend better over the years, it always amazes me to know how often we were actually at the same place at the same time and never met until we did. One of those instances is volunteering for Wreaths Across America.

This organization puts together an incredible annual opportunity to honor the men and women who have served our country by laying a wreath at their grave in Arlington National Cemetery. It’s pretty amazing to see the green wreaths and red bows across the white stones. It’s like the Christmas version of laying a flag at every grave for Memorial Day. It’s a simple, but beautiful way to honor our nation’s heroes.

Despite both having volunteered at this event twice in the past (and overlapping), this was the first year we were able to make it since we began dating. And we were blessed to have his father join us as the organization celebrated it’s 20th year and raised enough money to provide 100,000 wreaths for fallen heroes throughout the cemetery. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and there was an estimated amazing 10,000 volunteers on hand to help! Unbeknownst to me, the day was about to become even more special than I could have imagined.

After laying about a dozen wreathes each, I kept one on hand as we made our way to Section 60 where I was hoping to lay a wreath on the grave of Alex,a Soldier and friend I met at Walter Reed. When we arrived, I was a bit saddened that his grave had been covered by someone else, but it was still nice to visit. As I was telling Scott’s dad the story of how I knew him, this woman approached his grave and straightened up the wreath. I asked her if she knew him…and much to my surprise, she told me she was his mother!

I was floored. I didn’t anticipate his  family being there as he was from the Midwest, but they had flown out for the wreath laying. Since I had missed the funeral, I didn’t have the chance to meet them until that moment. I immediately reached out to hug her and told her how sorry I was for her loss. It’s hard to describe how I felt in that moment, but it was pretty emotionally charged for me. It was so special to share a few minutes with her and tell her how much I had enjoyed getting to know Alex at Walter Reed and what a wonderful guy I thought he had been.

It’s kind of a miracle the way things worked out this weekend. I have been meaning to get back to Arlington this year to visit Alex, and it just seems that once again fate intervened. It’s as if I wasn’t meant to go before that time so that I could be there when I was to meet his mother. It’s kind of like meeting my boyfriend when I did. Fate is definitely working my way it seems, and for that I’m so grateful. Just as I am grateful for the men and women who have served our country, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

The cemetery looks pretty incredible with all the wreaths! This is where we laid wreaths to honor our the men and women buried here.