Making Memorial Day memorable It was Sunday,...

Making Memorial

Day memorable

It was Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, and we were visiting

and decorating the grave of my father and mother who are partners in

death, as they were in life, at the Sawtelle Veterans cemetery in

West Los Angeles.

Surrounding us, tens of thousands of small American flags waved,

placed -- one at each gravesite -- by Boy Scouts several days before.

The sight of these fluttering flags is always awesome -- as if each

of the interred heroes was waving his, or her, thanks to every

visitor for the remembrance on this special weekend.

As we were kneeling on the grass, cleaning the grave marker, a

pretty, young girl -- we guessed 18 to 20 years old -- approached

from her parked car.

With a lovely smile, she introduced herself as Cassandra and knelt

beside my wife, proceeding to help with the cleaning chore.

I interrupted, asking her why she had come here today.

She arose and softly replied that she came “ ... because she

wanted to visit the resting place of beautiful people.”

Cassandra went on to say that she drove past the cemetery several

times a week on her way to work, but had never been inside the gates.

When she spoke, I could see tears welling in her eyes, and I must

say, she evoked similar emotions in me.

After a few more sentences of subdued conversation, and with a

final look at the beauty surrounding us, she whispered, “Thank you,”

turned and walked among the grave markers back to her car and, with a

friendly wave of her hand, she slowly drove away.

During our brief meeting, we discovered that she was a resident of

Playa del Rey and was a student at El Camino College.

We can only add that Cassandra made our day. We realized that many

make light of the Memorial Day weekend, with barbecues, beach

parties, casino visits and so forth. But there are those among us --

even some young ones -- who recognize the true spirituality of the

day and discover wondrous beauty amid the sadness.

Thank you again, Cassandra, for the elation you bestowed upon us,

and we hope to see you, and others like you, next year, and in years

to come, at our national cemeteries.

BILL and

MARGRET HODGES

Costa Mesa

Fireworks spark

just right on Fourth

I want to compliment Steve Smith for coming out for letting

fireworks be in people’s front yards and backyards for the Fourth of

July (“On the Town,” May 25). They’re well-supervised, certainly in

my neighborhood, and everybody has a wonderful time. Please don’t

lose this. Let’s not let a couple of old curmudgeons spoil our fun

for one day a year.

DONNA BROWN

Costa Mesa