"A labor of love" | The servant heart of Annemarie
 |
Written by Amber - |
This weekend, Chad and I were privileged to work with Snap-on in Washington, D.C. as photographers for their Honor Flight Network partnership. It was our third trip with them and once again, we were honored to meet many WWII, Korean and Vietnam War veterans (who were also current or retired Snap-on franchisees/employees). We were so touched by their many stories!
As we edit through our photos, I couldn't help but share this little side story that I observed.
I spent about an hour at the Vietnam War Memorial Wall photographing the veterans on our trip. There are over 58,000 names of fallen soldiers listed there. I watched this woman move her way down the wall, kneeling, standing, or on a ladder, tracing name after name after name, ever so diligently. Turns out, her name is Annemarie. She is one of two volunteers with the National Parks Service who trace names for people around the world who are unable to make it to the Memorial. Requests are submitted online and nearly every Saturday, Annemarie works through her weekly list (this week there were 120) and addresses an envelope for each one to be mailed out. "It's my labor of love," she told me sweetly with a smile.
When I reach her age (and every day in between), I hope to serve others with even a percentage of her love and dedication.