Eight years ago, we took a road trip to
Hagerstown, Maryland in KC's Colt to hook up with her boyfriend Jake for the weekend. Gage and I stayed in the basement room of KC's house. KC is adopted and her mother is single but was dating a man who I believe had some daughters. One of them went with us to
Antietam Battlefield. KC brought this monk cloak, her fencing foils, and us for an
odd photo shoot. The snow was just beginning to melt. KC had long hair at the time, as did Jake. He wore his black leather jacket and a black Superman T-shirt. He was into Danzig at the time, and Gage and I were into the Army surplus fashion of the grunge era.
There were pictures of the four of us, paired off, sitting on a wall, the girls leaning against the guys. Gage had his tweed cap and brought a saber he father had given him. His father had an entire room of antique guns and knives, but all of the guns had ammo and could be fired accurately. Part of this fascination simply comes from living in rural Virginia, where most of the land is either protected forest, old battlefields, or graveyards, sometimes all three at once.
Another picture shows KC in the monk's robe, her arms raised up and her face pointed at the sky in a gesture of reverence. One foot on dry cobblestone, the other on a patch of melting snow. A series of pictures show Gage sitting on a high wall a few feet above me, reaching down and holding my hand, then another of him laying flat on the wall and reaching me to him in a kiss. I wore oxblood Doc Martens and he wore Jungle boots. We were in love. KC and Jake were in love.
Now KC and Jake aren't doing so well, but are still together after five years and two kids. Gage and I have been over for about 4 years now. I guess battlefields really are left as a reminder.