Title: Memorial Day
Written By: Dragon's Daughter 1980
Spoiler: Twilight
Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS.
Author's Notes: Even though I was not happy with the way Sasha Alexander exited the show, I wish her the best of luck in all her future endeavors. Maybe it will all be a bad dream… (highly unlikely I know, but still, we can hope). This was partially written in an attempt to say, "Thank you" to all the men and women who have served in our armed forces and their families. (This late posting is due to some log-in problems.)
It has become tradition now.
Every Memorial Day, he buys flowers, roses and tulips, from her flower shop.
The clerk knows him by face now, despite the years that have passed.
The orders are always prepared, even on the worst of days.
He attends to his uncle's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
Most of the graves he passes by display tokens of love and affection from friends, family, and occasionally, strangers.
An American flag snaps in the breeze over the rows of headstones.
He looks up and wonders if that was the last thing his uncle saw before he died.
He leaves a white rose, for his mother, on the green grass in front of the headstone.
Then he goes to her grave…
Sometimes, he meets the others. Other times, he doesn't.
Her headstone is white, like those in Arlington.
A small American flag flutters in the wind, along with a white tulip lying at its base.
A thick letter is weighed down in the grass by a smooth round pebble.
A white rose keeps another envelope from fluttering away in the breeze.
A child's stuffed animal rests against the cold stone. He smiles slightly.
He gently lays down his burden of flowers, a tribute to a person he will never forget.
She gave herself and she would be missed.
Sometimes he speaks to her. Other times, he is silent.
But always, always, he is grateful for what he sees every Memorial Day.
He sees the love that she gave so freely is returned in full measure, even though she is gone.
Caitlin Todd was not forgotten…and would never be.