We lived in Virginia for three years, right across the Potomac River in Woodbridge.  And Ken was fascinated with the Civil War and wanted to go walk every battle field within driving distance.  I knew very little about that war. But he knew every detail.  Especially the battlefield layouts and the men on both sides.  Where they were positioned and how they advanced.

He took me to Gettysburg and went over the positions of Lee’s army, Longstreet, and the northern generals.  I was unable to understand what the ridges and positions meant, but I tried!

I am now reading a book about that battle.  Each general.  Each tactic.  And after 62 years I am starting to understand how uncertain the outcome was, and how much the personalities played a part.  And how our nation’s future was at stake.  I have never been a history student; math was my field, but this book is very interesting. I wish I had been able to play my part better.  He would stand in a position, tell me which general I was supposed to be, and of course, he adored Lee.  It wasn’t about the north and south, but the character of General Lee.