As I am typing this letter, I'm uncertain of my emotions... am I angry or stunned or simply hurt beyond understanding? My older brother and I grew up spending most of our time with two special cousins. We may as well have been four siblings, rather than just cousins. We lost my brother years ago... and last year we lost my cousin, Allen White, as well. That has left Ann (Allen's sister) and myself without our older brothers.. but they both left us with wonderful, sweet memories. She lives in South Carolina and we do not get to see each other often. Recently she, her husband Keith Flynn and their granddaughter Megan drove up here to lay her mother to rest beside my uncle at a gravesite here in King George. Allen had been buried last year in a cemetery in the King William area... in the "military circle" of this gravesite. While here for her mom's funeral service, they picked me up and we drove to King William to the gravesite of Allen. We stood there for what seemed hours just talking about him and remembering his sweetness. He always made you laugh and he always seemed to brighten up a room when he walked into it. We loved him and miss him more than you can imagine. Ann and Keith brought a cross for his grave... they purchased in South Carolina just for his gravesite. Keith dug the hole carefully and with the most gentle care he made certain the cross was set there and would last the duration of time. It was an arduous task standing there, as you all know the emotions that run through us as we visit the graves of our passed loved ones. At night, this cross would light up and we just felt in our hearts it could represent the light he left inside of us. And now..... the cross is gone. We made certain that the cross was not a violation of the cemetery's rules. THEY did not remove this cross. I ask all of you, what kind of sick joke... what kind of sick mind... would deface a grave? We spent a long time at his grave that day, crying and remembering and laughing... it was so sweet for me that they included me in this wonderful, memorable day. We have talked about it often since then... how much fun we had (we even got lost and laughed like crazy about how Allen would have rolled his eyes at our stupidity!! ha!).. but now, the entire trip to his gravesite has been marred. Our sweet memory STOLEN from us, by one selfish act of some hateful, immature and uncaring person or persons. Does this represent what we have become? I read so often of graves being defaced... but when it hit so close to home, I felt compelled to put to words how it feels in the hearts of those affected. I would ask the person responsible to please look into your heart and bring the cross back. A grave is a very personal place to the families whose loved one resides there. This egregious act feels as if this stranger has with one swift motion stabbed us through the heart with their cowardly, juvenile behavior. I pray that none of you ever suffer at the hands of anyone who would stoop so low as to spoil or blemish a gravesite. My heart goes out to my cousin and her family. Thank you for allowing me this venue to speak my piece. Patti Golightly (King George, VA)