Family visit loved ones on Memorial Day

People flocked to cemeteries and memorials Monday to remember loved ones on Memorial Day.

Crowds gathered around tombstones at Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. Balloons, flowers, ribbons and flags sprinkled color along rows of graves.

Rick Benson visited his dad who was buried next to other military veterans. He brought a wreath and hung it on his father’s grave. Someone had also laid flowers and stuck a small flag in the ground at his father’s resting place.

“I love seeing the flowers and the flags and remembering our military like we do,” said Benson.

He said this tradition started with his parents. His family used to go to the cemetery on Memorial Day to visit loved ones.

“My mom was always worried that people would forget them and this was something she always did,” said Benson. “My mom did it to make sure we put flowers on her grave.”

Mary Olguin also spent the afternoon in the cemetery. Her family members that served in the armed forces are still alive so she spent the day remembering those who didn’t serve.

“I think it’s for everybody,” said Olguin. “Sometimes people get into situations where they are always working or they don’t have time and you can set one day out where you can come out and be with them. And that’s what it’s all about to me.”

Six of her family members are buried in Evergreen Cemetery. She visited each one, trimming grass and cleaning up the hedges around the tombstones.

“I talk to them while I do it and then after I say a little prayer and then I kind of asking them to watch over me because I am by myself out there. And hopefully I come back home one day,” said Olguin.

She made the trek from Arizona to be with her family on Memorial Day. She said this tradition is a way for her to continue taking care of her relatives after they have passed away.

“This makes me feel good like I am still home. It’s kind of hard when your parents are gone to come back to where you were born and raised and they are not here. But they are here,” said Olguin.