Running in Gettysburg

Evergreen Cemetary, Gettysburg, PA
Photo by Stevie

Stevie and I went to Gettysburg this weekend.  Because my mother's side of the family comes from Gettysburg, I've been there more times than I can count.  We went partly to pay respects at my mother's grave just a few days after the 6th anniversary of her death, and partly because Stevie had never been there and we thought it would be a fun weekend away.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast that used to be my great uncle's photography studio just a block from the center of town.  In addition to my mother's grave, we toured the battlefields and the visitors' center (the 128-year-old cyclorama depicting Pickett's Charge is alone worth the $12 admission charge), sampled wine in the birthplace of Jennie Wade (the only civilian to be killed during the battle), and strolled the streets and poked around in the many Civil War themed gift shops.

Downtown Gettysburg

This morning I went on a run through part of the battlefields.  The battlefields of Gettysburg are one of my favorite places to run, given the scenic quality, the empty expanses, and the feeling of running through history, not just the history of my country, but the history of my family as well.  Running forces introspection and reflection, especially in a quiet town like Gettysburg where our nation's fate was once decided, and today's run made me think about family, both past and future:

At my mother's (and grandparents') gravesite

Atop the Pennsylvania Memorial

I think I knew Stevie was the one when I realized how much it hurt that my mother would never get to meet her.  But I'm sure that my mother, ever the history buff, would be happy I brought her out here.