Run, Peep, Run! (A New Generation)

"Pook, if anything ever happens to me, you have to keep coming out here. This is a special place, a very special place..."

These are the words my Daddy said to me as we hiked our very last hike ever in Gettysburg, Sept 2003. Of course, I had no idea that he was sick or that it was our very last hike, but I believe that Dad knew. I remember raising my eyebrows and looking at him with a weird, twisted sort of face and saying, "Ummmm, Ok??? I guess??" I thought he was just being dramatic or something. I had no clue....

I was reminded this past weekend as we were out in Gettysburg. Reminded just by gazing at the lush green battlefields, that this is hallowed ground for reasons of my very own. My father walked these grounds. My father loved this land, the history of it and what it stands for! So many of my happiest childhood memories are wrapped around the 1.6 square miles of this tiny town. All the silly games we played out there. Can You See Me? at the PA Monument. March, Piggies, March at the High Water Mark. Chinese Fire Drill at the Lee Monument! So many funny, amazing, fantastic times with all of us!

When my father told me to keep going to Gettysburg when he was gone, he was not merely telling me to drive to a Pennsylvania town and look around. He was telling me to create happy memories. To be reminded of the good things I shared with my family and to make new memories, good memories with the ones that come after, with the ones that I love.

May 6, 2011. Peep took his/her very first trip to this special town. Peep had his/her very first picture taken on Run, Pook, Run!(a very special field named after Mommy, by Grandpa, in case you missed that post =) Peep will one day visit, on the outside of my tummy hehe, and walk the roads, battlefields, and paths that his/her awesome Grandpa did. Peep will learn to love what Grandpa did and what Mommy does. Peep will have happy, wonderful memories and fun times in this tiny town. Peep will know his/her Grandpa through this town. Peep will carry on a legacy!


"I love my father as the stars - he's a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart."