~the graves of section 2~

We drove to Ft. Sill National Cemetery yesterday to participate in the Wreaths Across America program that provided freshly made Christmas wreaths for the graves of fallen soldiers.  I had read about it online several weeks back and decided to ask Mike if he would like to help volunteer that day.  He didn't hesitate one moment and gladly said "yes" that we should do it, and so we did.

 I took many pictures yesterday as a way to remember this special occasion that was something neither of us had done before.  As I went back to look through the photos to see them once again, I came across one that I had taken of Mike about 45 minutes before the ceremony began.  The more I looked at the picture, the more I liked it.  There was just something about it.
Mike and I had brought a bag of 500 pennies from home that day with the intent and purpose of placing them atop the gravestones of the fallen in Section 2.  It's my brother-in-law's section and we thought it would be a great way to honor his memory.  The custom of leaving coins on top of the markers of veterans is one that goes way back in time.  A simple penny means that someone was there to visit and pay their respects as well as thanking them for their service.  Mike didn't hesitate one moment to help me distribute them and I caught this picture of him walking down the rows as he reverently left a coin upon the top of every headstone he came across.  

 The southwest Oklahoma sky was gray and cloudy with the wind blowing out of the north, making it feel about 10 degrees colder than it really was.  Undeterred by the cold, Mike just kept up the pace as he helped me to use each and every one of those pennies in the manner in which was intended.  When the last penny was placed, I took a look back at just how many headstones we had covered.
Mike didn't have to say "yes" when I asked him about coming in the first place.  He could have easily reminded me that Saturday was his day off and that Elgin, Oklahoma is 3 hours away from us. Yet he did not.  Once we got there, it would have certainly been much more comfortable to remain inside our warm vehicle as we waited for the wreaths to arrive.  Instead, he got out with me and took his share of the coins and set to work.  I was very proud of him and to me the picture that I liked so much of Mike, the one that caught my eye as I looked back through them once again, showed the kind of man that he truly is.

 ~kind, honorable, and decent~

 After we finished taking care of the graves we were assigned to, we stopped back at the grave of my brother-in-law, Wes St. Clair, to be sure that his wreath had been placed.  The site of his grave with the many others in Section 2 was really breathtaking on that cold and near winter December morning.  We stopped for a moment to take a picture to remember Wes's moment as well.
What a great guy Wes St. Clair was!
We returned home mid morning today, a little tired from the journey, but safe and sound back in Kay County.  Both of us agreed that we would love to do this again next year and if everything goes well, we shall.  For Mike and I, "Wreaths Across America" was our act of service this year, a cause for which both of us felt strongly.  

 It would not have been enough to just talk about doing it.
It was the follow through and the showing up part that made all the difference yesterday.
Wes and Mike
They were more than brother-in-laws.  
They were really good friends.

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