MARANA, Ariz.—Once, Memorial Day weekend held a different meaning and purpose for Diana Espinosa of Tucson, Arizona.
Before her husband, Ernest, died at age 58, it was a time to travel as a couple to San Carlos, Mexico, and celebrate the annual family reunion with joy and laughter, not pain and sorrow.
Those special holidays spent together are gone now.
Under a perfect azure sky, Diana held her granddaughter close, then said goodbye to her beloved Ernest, standing at the foot of his grave at the Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery on May 27.
Two days before Memorial Day, Diana laid fresh bouquets of carnations and daisies at Ernest’s gravestone—No. 1340—beside a small memorial flag wavering in the breeze.
It’s been four years since Ernest died from a heart attack, Diana said. Four years of weeping, bittersweet memories, and visiting his graveside every chance she gets.
Pain Never Ends
“The pain is still there; it hurts every day. I guess you learn to live with the pain. But knowing he’s in a better place gives me comfort.”Soon after U.S. Navy veteran Ernest Arsenio Espinosa died on Aug. 11, 2019, Diana made a fateful decision.
“I stopped going to San Carlos after his passing,” she said, knowing it wouldn’t be the same without him.
For Espinosa, Memorial Day is about acknowledging loss while keeping her husband’s memory alive.
She does this with small, meaningful gestures, such as placing flowers and a fresh cup of coffee on his headstone.
A Place of Honor
Espinosa said she is pleased to see her husband laid to rest in a place of honor and beauty.On 32 pristine acres, the Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery in Marana is the final resting place for nearly 6,000 veterans, made possible by a Department of Veterans Administration grant.
The cemetery is the 100th state cemetery for veterans under the federal program.
It contains 1,802 burial plots, 1,938 cremated remains burial plots, and 1,920 Columbarium burial plots maintained and operated by the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services.
A Time to Grieve
At the Columbarium on May 27, a family of four sat grieving on a granite bench, one of them a boy in tears.In another part of the cemetery, an elderly woman bent down to place flowers beside a veteran’s grave marker.
“When Ernest passed, there were not that many [gravestones],” Diana Espinosa recalled.
The sea of gravestones her husband is a part of has a peaceful order and symmetry similar to that of Arlington Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.
On this day, each gravestone has a small flag commemorating the veteran buried there.
Ernest’s gravestone stands about four rows in. His epitaph reads, “Generous soul, loved by all, forever in our hearts.”
“Ernie was a kind and gentle man who loved the ocean just like his father before him,” read his obituary.
“His love for the sea inspired him to serve in the U.S. Navy proudly.”
He was the fifth child and third son of Maria Elena and Francisco Espinosa and had three children, five siblings, and six grandchildren.
Ernest served in the Navy from 1977 to 1983, traveling to four continents and attaining the rank of hull maintenance technician third class. He “lived life to the fullest,” his obituary adds, “and he loved nature and sports and reading his Bible every morning.”
He made his living as a skilled tradesman and plumbing contractor, but his passion and “daily staple” was his Christian faith.
“He was very patriotic,” said Diana, who fills the void left by Ernest’s absence with devotion to her family.
“I have my children and grandchildren to keep me going. And I feel proud. Proud that Ernest served his country.”
