SARASOTA, Fla. -- The three day weekend makes it easy to lose sight of Memorial Day's somber meaning; but a crowd of over one thousand joined Sarasota in honoring those who gave their lives for our country.
As the songs and speeches took place inside the auditorium at Sarasota National Cemetery on Saturday, Teresa Richardson was outside holding a ceremony of her own.
"Everyday is Memorial Day for these guys, every time I come out here I pray for them," she says.
What brings Richardson out is her late husband Robert, a 5-year Air Force veteran in the Korean War.
Along with his flowers, Robert got a birthday card; and between he and his wife of 62 years, his favorite towel.
"Every time I come here, I take it and kneel on it so I can feel closer to him," Richardson says through tears.
Cemetery director John Rosentrater says he feels the pressure every year to honor these families.
"Yes, we commemorate the 150th year," says Rosentrater. "But every Memorial Day is very special, especially here in the Sarasota community."
Flags were placed on every one of the cemetery's nearly 13,000 headstones, and Gold Star families---who lost sons or daughters to war---were given special recognition on stage.
"For me personally, it is very hard. It kind of opens up a new freshness of the loss," says Gold Star mom Stefenie Hernandez.
Hernandez lost her son, Army Specialist Patrick Lay, when he was killed in action back in August of 2011.
Patrick is no longer her only Memorial Day stop. Hernandez takes time to visit other sons with their mourning parents.
"It still doesn't make it any easier at all," she admits. "That we live, basically, Memorial Day every day, not just this time."
Hernandez and Richardson agree there's honor in knowing every flag, every anthem, represent the memory of a loved one.
Sarasota National Cemetery will be full staffed all weekend, helping families find the headstones of their loved ones.
As a reminder, a moment of silence at 3 pm Monday is the national recognition for our fallen soldiers.
