Last week my sister posted a funny status update:

"My nephew marched into my apartment last night and declared, 'Hey, Aunt Becky! We went to the Duck Commander place!' Lol, really?? I never would have guessed. ;)"

Here's the accompanying photo:

 

Any resident of North Louisiana knows that the BEST way to impress ANYONE is to have a "Duck Dynasty Family Member Actual Sighting". I mean - let's forget the fact that there are a ton of woolly- booger looking men dressed in camo from head to toe with long hair and beards who go to "the Wal-Marts" looking like that all the time. Especially now that they can draw a crowd of wide-eyed camo-Crocs wearing kids trying to get up the nerve to speak to them. Once one of these characters is spotted and the Facebook status shared......wow. You've reeeeally got something to talk about.

I am very thankful for the Robertson family and their testimony for Christ.

(I am also thankful that they provided me with the opportunity to have a knock-down-drag-out-whisper-hissing brawl in the Family Christian Store tonight with my son because I refused to buy him a genuine Duck Commander duck call. To "toot" or "quack" or "whatever" while he wears his genuine Duck Commander t-shirt and genuine Duck Commander baseball hat. Because "twenty-five dollars is really cheap, Mama. They cost like two HUNDRED at the Duck Commander place". Thanks guys.)

Seriously though - the Robertson clan has brought fame and fortune to our area in a way that few have. I thought that my second blog entry should feature a real live celebrity. A tribute to a true hero. I realize that it is difficult to beat out the whole "animal eaten alive" theme we had going last time. But I'm trying. Are you ready for this? Here goes:

 

 

Oh yes. That's really Phil. Phil Robertson. In a photo on my blog. You may now pause for a moment to be totally impressed....

 

But....

 

he's not the hero I'm featuring.

 

You see, the man on the right is my cousin, Kenneth Bunn. This photo was taken when he and Phil served together as deacon and elder at White's Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe. I wrote this tribute March 23, 2011:



 

My sisters and I were the always the "city" cousins. I find this perception to be hilarious - being that we were ALL as country as cornbread. But somewhere along the line they labeled me with that - and it stuck. My going to both college and seminary was kinda unusual. Probably only Susan - who went to pharmacy school and then back to get a teaching degree later - has logged more hours in higher education than I have. At least among the Bunn cousins.

But today I was reminded that any "success" I may have accomplished pales in comparison to the extraordinary life we celebrated.

Kenneth was one of the "big kids". Usually that crowd spent most holidays trying to get away from us - the "little kids". Except for Easter - when they were forced to hide Easter eggs for us to hunt - there was little mingling between the groups. Perhaps sitting together at a meal - posing beside each other in a picture - catching up on the details of life as adults at Christmas. Ironically, Facebook has provided the most interaction between us in our whole lives, and that is through his wife Starla. We swapped lo-cal recipes and exercise tips until recently we both unexpectedly faced extreme crisis.

Mine was the dissolution of my marriage. Hers was the dissolution of her husband's life.

She encouraged me as I went to regain custody of my children, even as she and Kenneth learned how to clean his trach tube...endured radiation...and made it through chemo. In one message, she told me that what they were going through was nothing compared to the agony I had to feel when I could not see my kids. I remember being so deeply touched by how seriously she took my pain. My pain of separation lasted for four days. Only the Lord knows how long she will endure the pain of her separation from Kenneth.

Kenneth died Sunday. After months of prayer requests - updates on Facebook which became more and more somber - the healing came. In a way that no one wanted, but the only way that was complete. I was so aware of Starla's faith. We mentioned the Lord in every conversation. I knew that Kenneth was active in church and a man of faith - but nothing - nothing could have prepared me for what I learned about him today.

His visitation last night was overwhelming. The line stretched out the door of the huge church and into the street. We finally cut around to go talk to my elderly uncle who has been battling cancer himself and was preparing to leave. As my dad visited and I kept my kids from swinging from the rafters - I had lots of time to watch Starla and the crowd. Hundreds of people...old, young, families, executive types, guys still in work shirts from the paper mill. We never made it over to visit with her. Opted instead for a trip to Chick-fil-a (a merciful break we awarded ourselves as a reward for keeping Matthew "semi-reverent" after over an hour and a half of standing around). Over our late dinner, we discussed the fact that the crowd would be smaller at the funeral. After all, people have to work.

We were wrong. The parking lot was full. The church was packed. For two hours I heard testimony about a man that I was proud to be related to. In quiet confidence and strength - he had been faithful to his family, his church, his job, his Savior. Man after man stood in tears talking about how Ken was slow, but never late. How he taught welding to the new guys with a precision and patience that was almost unbelievable. How his side hobby was brick laying - a very difficult skill that he mastered and demonstrated often. Everyone talked of things that he made them. How he was always there to help, even if not asked. He would just show up and quietly get to work...remodeling his brother-in-law's house...making a fish fryer or bar-be-que out of spare pieces of steel...preparing the Lord's Supper every Sunday morning - for over 18 years. His last Sunday to perform this task was the day he went to the hospital.

Friends stood to talk about how their relationship with Ken made them better husbands and better fathers. I watched the son of Ken's best friend break into tears as his daddy gave testimony from the pulpit that "my kids would not be who they are today without the influence of this man". They talked of accountability, Bible studies, and most of all - how Ken LIVED his faith - showed the gospel in action. I found myself wishing that my husband could have had a friend like my cousin Ken...

I realize that when I get to the other side - a pretty good introduction of myself will be that I am "Kenneth Bunn's cousin". He lived the gospel. He was faithful. He impacted thousands of lives in his quiet, easygoing way.

Another cousin leaned over as the family sat waiting for the huge crowd to file past. "Y'all sure won't get this many to come out for my funeral" she quipped. We quietly laughed.

No -not many people would have "that many come out" to celebrate a life. 53 years. Eternal significance. I am proud to be Kenneth Bunn's cousin. And I can't wait to get to know him better - when we can visit and catch up forever.

If you've come back to read this second entry of mine - you have thrilled me beyond measure. Thanks y'all.

(And, by the way - the fireplace you see at the end of every Duck Dynasty episode? Made especially for Phil Robertson by MY cousin, Ken Bunn. Not that I'm one to brag - but it is what it is, y'all.)

And the lights are going out on another day here in Pizza Hut Heights.