Though Dec. 14 marked my first trip to the New Hope Cemetery east of Mineola, it was immediately familiar.

I could have been visiting any of a number of similar places.

These small, rural, mostly out-of-the way resting places for generations of local families dot the landscape throughout this region, and likely, across the nation.

Even though New Hope is just yards away from a major U.S. highway, no doubt the bulk of travelers zip by, barely even acknowledging the small, green highway sign pointing the way south, off County Road 2422, just past a small lake.

Any trip through rural landscapes generally reveals many such signs.

Driving those few hundreds yards off Hwy. 80 reveals a scene of serenity and beauty.

Many of those gathered for the Wreaths Across America ceremony have personal connections.

Some were there to place a holiday wreath on the grave of a special family member interred there.

Others were taking part in the presentation of wreaths on the graves of others, some, as speaker Jeffrey White noted, who have since been forgotten.

But not on this day.

As each wreath was placed, the participants were encouraged to announce the veteran’s name.

There are more than 100 who served the nation buried at New Hope, dating to the Civil War.

The scene was repeated at six other cemeteries in Wood County and thousands across the country.

I checked on the two cemeteries that hold these memories for me, Jarratt Cemetery just south of Jacksonville and Mt. Zion, just over the Arkansas line, tucked between the Methodist and Baptist churches. They were not participants in the wreath project, unfortunately.

The former goes back many generations on my Dad’s maternal side, with namesake Devereaux Jarratt born in 1780 in Virginia.

The latter includes both sides of Mom’s family, again for several generations.

One of those wreaths would go on the grave of great-uncle Charles, who flew reconnaissance missions over Europe during World War Two.

Both cemeteries are in rural locations, one off a county road far from the beaten track, the other in a small community that also doesn’t get a whole lot of traffic, though an out-of-control logging truck demolished the community center just across the street from the museum – housed in an old store – that holds some family history.

The tabernacle and old church pews at New Hope are reminiscent of Jarratt, while the proximity of the two churches negates the necessity for such a structure at Mt. Zion. The mix of tombstone shapes, styles, colors and ages is another shared trait.

Both are in mostly wooded areas, just as New Hope is surrounded by trees, whose changing leaves marked the passage of another season.