Whenever we go to Fort Snelling National Cemetery, we always think we can remember how to find Kathleen's brother, father and mother. We drive in, look for our landmarks, and count the rows. Jimmy is in Section X, just down from the third tree, and we can find Leonard and Florence from there because they are in the row that starts with the rusty old water spigot by the road.
Our system didn't work today; eventually we gave up trying and went to the administration building and the nice man looked it up in the book and marked a map for us. The graves are as we remembered, but the spigot is gone. We spent some time thinking about everything, remembering what it was like having them near, wishing Jim and Leonard hadn't left so soon, happy that Florence had 99 years and is literally with her husband now in a grave marked by a single stone.
We took the photo below to help us remember where to look the next time we are there to visit. Look closely to see Kathleen standing beside her brother's resting place, engraved as Sp4 James Neilson, Vietnam.
Sadly missed.
