Trip to DC was fantastic. I find that I dislike flying more and more. I can't tell if it's motion sickness rearing up, or the simple paranoia of my plane crashing (which I'm sure it will on takeoff), but I truly have begun to dread getting on a plane. Perhaps the 4 flights to Russia and back have something to do with it?
Instead of posting a summary of the trip, I will post just a few pictures. (note: I tried to attach 4 - only 2 will actually show up). I also will admit when I cried - at the Sept. 11 memorial within the Pentagon, and at the Vietnam Memorial. The Pentagon itself was very, very interesting. The memorial was well done, and it was on the floor/side that the plane crashed into. I mean, I was standing on ground that the plane slammed into. I held it together until I saw the flag that draped the coffin with the remains of all 184 people that died at the Pentagon that day. One coffin. 184 people. Me, crying.
But I was also moved by the little things I saw on the trip - a father and young teen son in deep conversation about history at the FDR Memorial. A World War II vet speaking of his experiences to 3 twenty-something college students at the WWII Memorial, and the students staring in awe and listening intently. The mom at the Archives staring at a document and saying to her kids, "Can you believe it? The Declaration of Independence! Can you believe it?!" That is why I like history so much. When people get it. When history is people, and real things, and other people care.
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