How I Met The Vice President

It was the most beautiful fall day in Northern Virginia and I was headed to Arlington National Cemetery with my boss to attend the annual Veteran's Day Ceremony at the amphitheater, hosted by Vice President Joe Biden. It was very exciting and excessively hot. I had purchased a new white peacoat that I wore over a gorgeous red dress that I had only worn once, last New Years Eve.



My boss, being a retired Army Colonel, really loves sharing his military knowledge with anybody who will listen. And since he drove, I was pretty much a captive audience, but I learned a lot. He took me to the new sections for those K.I.A. over the past few months, section 60. You see, in section 60, it's obvious that the grass just doesn't line up the way it should. From above I'm sure it looked something like a checker board with all of the new sod that was placed. Pictures, mementos, flowers. All of this left for those who were taken from their loved ones.

We parked at section 60 and took the shuttle to the ceremony. My boss asked if I wouldn't mind walking back, that he would like to stop at at a grave if I was okay with it. On our walk back, he talked about his funeral. He described the carriage that would carry his casket to the memorial site in the cemetery, he told me about how he would be decorated, who would be attending, how it would end. Part of me couldn't believe that we were discussing this, but I just smiled and said "I'll be there, I hope it isn't for a very long time, but I'll be there."

We walked in silence, my boss collected stones along the way and then counted off trees in section 63. 1... 2... 3...4...5...6....7... "we're here" he said. I followed him into the perfectly uniform graveyard, trying not to get stuck in the mud. We approach a grave that already had a large stone placed a top of it. He had mentioned earlier that it's a sign that the soldier hasn't been forgotten "looks like someone has already been here" he said, as he placed his stone on the granite slab. I asked him who it was, and he told me that it was his first boss when he entered the Army. He knelt down, and I stepped away. I tried to give him as much privacy as he deserved in mourning and remembering his dear friend. "Is this me"? I thought, "is this what it is going to be like to visit the colonel here after he is gone"? He stood up, gave a tear-filled salute to the granite slab, and walked in my direction. Thank God I had my sunglasses on. I didn't want him to know that I had been watching the entire exchange, or that I was crying.

We walked back to the car in silence. Both reflecting on the day's events. As we approached our car, we realized we were stuck, and so were about 100+ individuals in our section because Vice President Biden was right across the street meeting with families in section 60 and the put a freeze on all traffic movement. We could see him from our widows and my boss said "well, we might as well go over there if we're going to be stuck." I grabbed my cell phone and my camera and we were off. My boss had us positioned along the exit route for Biden and his service men. We were all that stood between them and their motorcade. About fifteen minutes of the VP meeting families who lost loved ones buried in section 60, he made his way over to me and my boss. Here is the exchange