I needed to get away for a while.
It wasn't my family, so loving yet overbearing. Nor my schooling, or my job, my friends. It was something so natural to me, I couldn't tell anyone about it.
I boarded a plane to Atlanta, Georgia, on a cool Saturday morning. I arrived there at around 4 pm, and took a rental car all the way down to Columbus, which took about an hour and a half. I booked a room at a Hilton Garden Inn and from there I headed in the way of Fort Benning, a military base much like Fort Bragg or Fort Lewis; if you were a military brat, you'd completely understand.
I had no specific destination at that point. I would just go wherever my heart allowed, wherever it told me to. I needed gas, and food, so I pulled into a gas station right across from the PX and shoppette, right by a Burger King and a Dunkin' Donuts. As I got out, I stopped to watch a scene unfold before me.
A young and pretty girl, maybe 17, jumped out of her parents' silver BMW and ran to embrace a young man. He was tall, lean, with very broad shoulders and a long and graceful neck, like a Greek statue. He was obviously a GI. They held each other, the girl laughing hysterically and crying, the boy smiling madly. It was such a beautiful sight, and I can say that I've never forgotten it once to this day.
I went back to the hotel, and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning I just wandered about the place, as I said I would. I had breakfast at a lovely diner called Ruth Ann's, and a saw a movie. Later when I got back to the hotel for a little rest, I decided to check out the environment surrounding the place. There was a very large pond, a sidewalk beside it, lined with trees and a couple benches. There were ducks and geese here and there, a few pear blossom trees blooming with their beautiful white flowers. It was honestly a very pretty sight. I sat on a bench and just surveyed the area, feeling a sense of serenity I'd not felt in a while.
And then, I saw them.
The couple from yesterday was walking together down the sidewalk, talking and laughing while holding hands. I watched them sit on the bench maybe 15 feet away from mine, and almost immediately they began to cuddle and kiss. Any other older person would be nearly nauseous watching a scene like that, even myself; but suddenly, I didn't. I just felt so connected to them. I wished them all the happiness in the world.
They got up and walked a bit more. I never took my eyes away from them once. They crossed the bridge over the water and walked up stone steps on a very green hill littered in small flowers, then sat themselves there. They were just talking, laughing some more, kissing. Took pictures together. The boy laid his head in the girl's lap, singing songs to her, and their gazes towards each other were the most memorable moments that I have. It was such a pure love. I felt like I'd been a part of those memories all along.
I watched them for what may have been hours, until they ran back down to the parking lot of the hotel. They jumped into her parents' BMW and quickly drove away. I figured they were taking him back to his barracks for formation, and hurriedly so, because they lost track of the time. I remembered something from a long time ago just then, the very same thing.
I realized why I had come here, why I needed to get away.
My memories from those beautiful times needed to come back home.
It wasn't my family, so loving yet overbearing. Nor my schooling, or my job, my friends. It was something so natural to me, I couldn't tell anyone about it.
I boarded a plane to Atlanta, Georgia, on a cool Saturday morning. I arrived there at around 4 pm, and took a rental car all the way down to Columbus, which took about an hour and a half. I booked a room at a Hilton Garden Inn and from there I headed in the way of Fort Benning, a military base much like Fort Bragg or Fort Lewis; if you were a military brat, you'd completely understand.
I had no specific destination at that point. I would just go wherever my heart allowed, wherever it told me to. I needed gas, and food, so I pulled into a gas station right across from the PX and shoppette, right by a Burger King and a Dunkin' Donuts. As I got out, I stopped to watch a scene unfold before me.
A young and pretty girl, maybe 17, jumped out of her parents' silver BMW and ran to embrace a young man. He was tall, lean, with very broad shoulders and a long and graceful neck, like a Greek statue. He was obviously a GI. They held each other, the girl laughing hysterically and crying, the boy smiling madly. It was such a beautiful sight, and I can say that I've never forgotten it once to this day.
I went back to the hotel, and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning I just wandered about the place, as I said I would. I had breakfast at a lovely diner called Ruth Ann's, and a saw a movie. Later when I got back to the hotel for a little rest, I decided to check out the environment surrounding the place. There was a very large pond, a sidewalk beside it, lined with trees and a couple benches. There were ducks and geese here and there, a few pear blossom trees blooming with their beautiful white flowers. It was honestly a very pretty sight. I sat on a bench and just surveyed the area, feeling a sense of serenity I'd not felt in a while.
And then, I saw them.
The couple from yesterday was walking together down the sidewalk, talking and laughing while holding hands. I watched them sit on the bench maybe 15 feet away from mine, and almost immediately they began to cuddle and kiss. Any other older person would be nearly nauseous watching a scene like that, even myself; but suddenly, I didn't. I just felt so connected to them. I wished them all the happiness in the world.
They got up and walked a bit more. I never took my eyes away from them once. They crossed the bridge over the water and walked up stone steps on a very green hill littered in small flowers, then sat themselves there. They were just talking, laughing some more, kissing. Took pictures together. The boy laid his head in the girl's lap, singing songs to her, and their gazes towards each other were the most memorable moments that I have. It was such a pure love. I felt like I'd been a part of those memories all along.
I watched them for what may have been hours, until they ran back down to the parking lot of the hotel. They jumped into her parents' BMW and quickly drove away. I figured they were taking him back to his barracks for formation, and hurriedly so, because they lost track of the time. I remembered something from a long time ago just then, the very same thing.
I realized why I had come here, why I needed to get away.
My memories from those beautiful times needed to come back home.
