Since the day his beloved wife of 65 years, Elizabeth, passed away, 86-year-old Jake Reissig has had the same daily routine. He visits Liz’s grave at Garden Park Cemetery in Conroe, Texas, leaves her flowers and tells her about his day.
In summer 2015, Texas faced a severe drought. Jake noticed the grass around Liz’s plot was drying up and turning brown, just like many of the other plots at the cemetery. So he made sure to water the grass around her stone until it returned to its bright green color.
Photo courtesy of ROGER REISSIG / Facebook.
According to CBS News, one day at the cemetery, Jake noticed a woman kneeling and sobbing over another grave. He consoled the woman and learned the grave on which she knelt belonged to the woman’s brother — a fallen US soldier.
What he did next went wildly viral.
The US soldier was Joseph Anthony Villasenor, who enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1994 where he served for 16 years.
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Joseph loved all sports, but his favorite was softball. On August 9, 2010, he was selected to pitch for the Charleston Air Force Base Air Force softball League and was on his way to play in a game when he was killed in a car accident.
Joseph’s sister left the cemetery, and Jake was so moved by her story that he came up with a plan: In addition to watering his wife’s grave every day, Jake decided to water Joseph’s as well.
Photo courtesy of ROGER REISSIG / Facebook.
He says “it is the least he can do after all Joseph sacrificed for our country.”
Days later, Joseph’s parents, Rachel and Raymond, went to visit their son’s grave, they noticed the grass on his plot was a much brighter shade of green and was covered in more dew than the other plots.
Photo courtesy of ROGER REISSIG / Facebook.
At first, they thought it was a miracle. It comforted Rachel to think an angel was watching over Joseph, keeping his headstone safe.
But in reality, that angel was an old widower named Jake. Rachel and Raymond eventually spotted Jake standing there. They were blown away by the man’s kindness and they all embraced with a hug.
Jake and his wife Elizabeth. Photo courtesy of ROGER REISSIG / Facebook.
After Jake’s son Roger posted the story about his dad, a soldier and the cemetery on Facebook, it went viral.
Now, at the Garden Park Cemetery, there are two grave sites where the grass is just a little bit greener.
“It was just incredible to know that a stranger would take that much time and care for our son who he didn’t even know,” Rachel says.
Photo courtesy of ROGER REISSIG / Facebook.
We need more compassionate and selfless people like Jake in this world. If you agree, please SHARE this unbelievable story with your friends on Facebook!