A Memorable Trip to Arlington Cemetery:
By Jennifer Stuhldreher
    The walk to the cemetery from the metro stop seemed long, but it was definitely worth it. The sun was out in full blaze, and I could feel the temperature rising. I put my sunglasses on and continued to walk forward. As soon as I made it to the entrance gates, I found a young boy awaiting our arrival. He smiled at me and handed me a rose, he said that I could place it anywhere that I wanted. As I walked further in I realized that there were a lot of boys and girls in boy-scouts and girl-scout uniforms all over handing out colored roses. I had received a yellow rose, and as I continued my walk up the hill towards the tomb of the unknown soldier I continued to smell the rose I held onto.

           Once I made it farther up the hill, I started investigating. I found older and older gravestones as I continued my climb. One stood out to me in particular. It was an old tomb, from 1908 that had the name Johnson inscribed into it. It was a large tombstone, but very plain. The reason it stood out to me, was because a tree had started to grow below it. This tree, which was rather large now, seemed to have molded around the tombstone. It looked as though its roots were supporting the gravestone. As soon as I realized how much this tombstone had intrigued me, I realized this is where I should place my rose. It didn’t matter who this person was in relation to me, but instead the beauty that I saw from his grave. Therefore, I thought he deserved the rose, and proceeded to place the rose on the base of the tombstone.