Page 42 - Senior Link Magazine Winter 2017- Online Magazine
P. 42
HONORING SENIORS
A
Memory
for
Every
Mile
by Ryan Smith
n all, we traveled 1,437 miles. D.C. for a week,” he said. I was White House! It was amazing to
It was my first time going to very overwhelmed with pure joy. see the residence of the leader of
IWashington D.C. and even to My Poppa had served as a Marine, our country. I will never forget the
the Northeast United States. I have a true hero! I was so happy that Washington monument, the Lincoln
always dreamed of going to our he was getting to go with us to memorial, George Washington’s
Capitol, and that dream came true in see all the things he had always plantation (Mount Vernon), the
August of 2017. wanted to see! I knew we would Smithsonian museums, the National
make incredible, lasting memories Archives, the Viet Nam Wall, and
I was sitting casually in my bedroom together. the World War I and II Memorials!
one late evening when my parents It was all breathtaking. But, most
called me into the living room. I Before we left, we applied for a importantly, I will never forget the
knew my parents had been hiding White House tour, but sadly, we people with whom I shared these
something from me all day, and I were declined. It turns out that memories.
really did not know what it could people generally book a White
be. I was very anxious and had House tour a year in advance. We had a private tour of the Capitol
many thoughts rushing through However, a week away from our with our Congressman’s intern,
my head. Did they get me a car departing date, we got a phone call who happens to be studying at
because I had just finished Driver’s from our local Congressman’s office, Texas Tech; it gave us a real sense
Ed. earlier this summer? Were they and they said we had been approved of home. Our intern was from our
making me get a job? Were they for a White House and Capitol tour. own grass-roots; he understood us.
going to surprise me with a trip You cannot imagine our excitement! I hate hearing that the people in the
somewhere? Out of all of these Northeast are different from those in
rushing thoughts, I could never I had heard and studied about the south, because something we all
have expected the words I heard the richness of America’s history; share is that we are all Americans.
my father say next. “Ryan, I just however, seeing so many locations That’s something we will always all
got off the phone with Poppa, and in D.C. in person gave me a new have in common. We all love our
we three are going to Washington perspective. Our first stop was the red, white and blue. We all sing the
42 Lubbock Senior Link
