Visiting Gettysburg

Mom's sister, Aunt Ejvor, and her family stayed in Pennsylvania the summer of 1971.  They were there for Uncle Leo's work.  We got to stay with them for a weekend while we were back east. 

The ward they were going to had a cafe booth at the State Fair, and the youth were asked to be help.  Since we were there on Saturday Keith and I went with our cousins to the fair and worked in the cafe.  I was a waitress.  It was lots of fun, and not too difficult since I was used to serving people after all the dinners I had helped our ward serve.  It was a little awkward serving coffee, but I could handle that.  The only hard part was having to explain to costumers about some of the food.  This was back before Taco Bell's were popular, and one of the items on the menu was tacos.  People read that, looked at us with surprise, and wanted us to describe what a tay-co was.  Weird.

On another day we visited Reptile Land and went swimming in the Susquehanna River with the Merkleys.  But the most memorable part of our stay was visiting Gettysburg.  I would like to say I really studied the diorama and other exhibits in Gettysburg, or that I understood the battle better after visiting.  Sorry.  I didn't, and I can't.  

My appreciation for this tragic part of the Civil War came later, as I learned and studied and then taught about this battle, and the beautiful address Abraham Lincoln gave to dedicate the battle field.  In 1971, though, I'm afraid I didn't appreciate it at all.  As we walked through the museum and looked at the diorama I barely listened.  Then, when we drove through the beautiful countryside, stopping to read the descriptions of the battle, I sat in the back of the camper with my cousins and brothers and sisters and played card games.  We hardly even looked out the windows.  Dumb, I know, but that's what teenagers do. 

Even though I didn't learn much when I was there, visiting Gettysburg changed my life anyway.   Ever after that trip Gettysburg belonged to me, and because of that I paid more attention and tried harder to understand what happened there when I studied the Civil War.  I'm glad dad took us, even if I didn't appreciate it at the time.