For couple slain in veterans cemetery, visiting son’s grave was a daily ritual
U.S. Army veteran Paul Marino and his wife, Lidia, visited the grave of their son, Anthony, at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery almost every day for the past three years.
“It was like a regimen. Mom and Dad visited my brother’s grave every single day, without fail, unless there was inclement weather. They usually went there in the morning,” the couple’s son, Ray Marino, 60, said.
The daily graveside visits served as a touchstone for the elderly Elkton, Md., couple – each day was another opportunity to express how deeply they loved Anthony and how heartbreakingly they missed him.
The couple would stand at the grave for 10 minutes or so. Sometimes they left fresh flowers; other times, they simply talked to their deceased son. “Hey, Anthony, Mom and Dad are here,” they would say.
Last week, however, that touching ritual turned tragic, when the Marinos were fatally shot just yards from Anthony’s grave.
Paul, 86, and Lidia, 85, were on the veterans cemetery grounds on the morning of May 8 to visit Anthony’s gravesite, as they had done perhaps 1,000 times before since their youngest son was laid to rest there in 2017.
https://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/for-couple-slain-in-veterans-cemetery-visiting-son-s-grave-was-a-daily-ritual/article_865d146e-1e22-55b5-bd68-1c3961ce2c58.html