Leaving Raleigh on December 14th, in rain and again with snow piled on the roadside, I traveled to Elizabeth Graham’s Asheville mountain house. After a delicious dinner with Elizabeth and Mary Tatum, we slept soundly. I appreciate Elizabeth’s continued generous hospitality, as well as her friendship. Sleep overs at her house are always fun between bear tales and raccoon visits! The next morning Elizabeth drove us to the charming Red Rocker Inn in picturesque Black Mountain for a lovely brunch with the Edward Buncombe Chapter, Linda Gill Regent, and Ruth Davidson Chapter, Sharon Connor Regent. What a special privilege to present a 70 year membership certificate to Dorothy Hyatt, who was accompanied by her daughter and son-in-law. Rosie Craig then drove us to the Western Carolina State Veterans Cemetery where we stood in the first misting rain, then a hard rain, for a Wreaths Across America ceremony, one of my favorite events.
I don’t mind standing in the rain for ceremonies like that because of my first Continental Congress trip. My chapter members Gladys McIver and Polly Sheats took my sister Pat and me on the DC bus tour where we watched the changing of the guard at Arlington. When we arrived, it began raining so hard it looked like fog. We couldn’t even see the city beyond the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The honor guard took no notice and altered nothing in their routine. The crowd stood under umbrellas, except for those of us who left our umbrellas at the hotel! No one uttered a word or even moved a muscle. You only heard the rhythmic cadence of the sentinels highly polished shoes on the marble and the steady downpour of rain on the ground and pavement. How could you speak or move when those young men in uniform, oblivious to the rain, continued the guard change and their watch over their fallen comrades? How great is the price of freedom. Let us never take it for granted.
Carole Weiss, State Regent
