TAMPA, Fla. — Memorial Day is set aside to honor veterans, but many people visit cemeteries to honor any loved one who has passed away.
Enereida Vargas came to an area in Myrtle Hill Memorial Park called “Babyland,” where her infant daughter Valentina is buried.
"I’m here today for my baby. She turned one year today," said Vargas.
Debbie Miller and her husband came to tend the graves of relatives, pulling off the faded flowers and flags and replacing them with fresh ones.
"For us, they are not here. They are somewhere else, but coming out here says we still love you, we still think about you, and you are still in our hearts," said Miller.
At Myrtle Hill Memorial Park and Garden of Memories, general manager Kaylee Wilson makes visitors welcome with a cookout.
Wilson said that Memorial Day has the second-most visitors during the year.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
