David Carlock, a sweet man from our church, gave us free passes to Lake Winnepesaukah, which is an amusement park in Ft. Oglethorpe.
Now, you must understand – “Lake Winnie” holds a very special place in my heart. Ken and I went on our first “date” to a concert there. And a couple of months after that, Ken Lunsford kissed Melinda Kendrick for the very first time!!! It was the 4th of July and we were there to watch the fireworks. And I guess you could say that we made some fireworks of our own that night. Anywhooo... Mr. Carlock brought us the free passes and we decided to take the boys. We had to take it slow and easy so Ken wouldn’t tire out too easily, which was no easy feat with a 13-year-old and an 8-year-old. But even in their excitement, Jesse and Benjamin realized that their Dad was weak and toned it down as much as they could.
Ken and the boys rode almost all of the rides together. Knowing my tendency towards motion sickness, I mostly kept my feet on the ground and took pictures of my guys as they flew past. I did ride the carousel a time or two and the train once. We stayed until early afternoon. Though I knew Ken was hurting, he was having such a good time with his boys, that I didn’t mention going home until he began to stagger some. Watching them all together having so much fun brought tears to my eyes – and still does when I remember that day. I got the best picture of the three of them that day. They were riding the antique cars (Benjamin was “driving”). When they came around the last time, they all looked up at me and smiled just as I snapped the picture. It was as if God Himself framed the picture and gave us a perfect memory. I guess He did.
Another day, we went on a train trip. Ken had always wanted to take a long train trip, the kind where you sleep on the train. We didn’t get to do that, but right after the Lake Winnie trip, I saw a two-hour trip advertised in the local paper. The train (pulled by a steam locomotive, no less) would leave from Chattanooga and travel to the airport in LaFayette, GA. (Who would have guessed that LaFayette had an airport?!) Anyway, once at the LaFayette airport, we could watch the air show they were having. They had all kinds of private planes doing stunts and stuff like that.
I think the neatest thing about the train trip was that the train car we rode in had been used in the movie “Some Like it Hot”. We had our own little compartment where the seats faced each other on either side of a huge picture window. We got to eat our lunch in the dining car too. It was lots of fun. Ken was a lot weaker on this trip than he had been at Lake Winnie, but luckily, most of the trip was sitting down, so that helped. Being out in the sun at the air show really took a lot out of Ken, so we had to find a place in the shade and sit until the train was ready to go back to Chattanooga. Ken did, though, get to ride a helicopter while we were at the air show. It is something he had always wanted to do. He would have liked for me to have ridden with him, but since I am afraid of both heights and closed-in spaces, I didn’t really think it would be a good idea. So, I stayed on the ground and smiled and waved at him when he went over. I’m glad he got to take that ride.
On the way home that evening, I took the last picture we have of Ken before he died. He was smiling and looking at me with those precious blue eyes that I loved so much. It is a precious picture and a precious memory.
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