Kenneth Lawson, Author, Story Teller

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September 261, 2024

Legacy of Love

Ryan pointed to the giant frame of the ancient roller coaster. “You remember that old roller coaster, Robin?”

“Yeah, I sure do. You turned three shades of green, and I thought you would throw up on me.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. But you didn’t do much better on the Ferris wheel. Remember, we got to the top, and they stopped for a minute. You turned white as a sheet and froze up. I thought you were going to pass out on me.”

“I kinda forgot about my fear of heights. I guess it was from being so high being with you.”

The local carnival and site of a fall festival had once been a local landmark in the community. It had been around since either of them could remember. They both had memories of going with their families when they were children and taking their kids to the midway.

Attendance dropped off, and the turnout for the fair had become sparser. Soon, it became a losing proposition, and a few years ago, anything that could be moved was sold off. Most of it went for scrap, and the remaining structures were a few booths, the Ferris wheel, and the roller coaster, which were now reduced to their frames.
Ryan and Robin walked along the deserted midway where the biggest and best booths had been set up. They could almost smell the popcorn, hot dogs, funnel cakes, and cotton candy that once filled the air. They stopped in front of a dilapidated booth, its open front and hanging awning the only remaining remnants of its former life as an attraction.

“Remember when you tried to win me the teddy bear with the BB gun?”
“Yeah, that barrel was crooked. I swear, I couldn’t hit that star no matter how I tried.”

“You spent how much trying to win that bear for me?”

“Every cent I had.” They grinned at the memory.

The trip back to the old carnival had been the last stop on a week-long journey to their hometown. Over the past week, they visited the school where they graduated from and the church where they married.

Ryan had asked Robin to marry him at the carnival. After that, it was an annual ritual for them to return every year on the anniversary of their engagement.

In the last several years, they only enjoyed a slow walk through the skeleton of the once-thriving carnival. They stood facing each other between the roller coaster and the Farris wheel.

“Remember you proposed to me right here?” Ryan nodded yes.

“Robin, will you marry me all over again?” he whispered.

“Yes, yes, I’d love to.”

They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed with only the Ferris wheel and roller coaster skeletons watching. After several minutes of kissing in the middle of the midway, they broke their embrace.

Ryan smiled. “It’s getting late, and the kids are expecting us.”
~~
Not long after, Ryan and Robin stood in the same church where they wed fifty years ago. The Reverend Roberts officiated as he had when they first married. They were his first marriage ceremony when he arrived as a young pastor in their parish. Now, decades later, he continues to minister to the community surrounding the small town.

Robin wore the same wedding dress she had worn years before. Ryan thought she looked just as beautiful now as she did the first time he’d seen her in it.

The front rows of the church were filled with their children and their spouses, grandchildren and their families filled in behind them, and a couple of great-grandchildren were mixed in, too.

Ryan and Robin had moved to a nearby city and had been fortunate as their business had been phenomenally successful. They became significant supporters of their communities, never forgetting their hometown. Their efforts opened new industries, jobs, and other necessary services, and the community was alive and thriving. Many new families had moved to the town because of the jobs they had brought in. They were proud that their children and grandchildren continued the legacy of service and support to their communities.

Their wedding reception was open to all residents of their town. Over five hundred people attended at one time or another during the daylong event. Speeches were made, toasts were drunk, and everyone shared how Ryan and Robin affected their lives.

Ryan and Robin stood before the people who meant so much to them to announce they were leaving one last legacy to the community. They had purchased the old carnival site and planned to reopen the amusement park. Excitement flowed through the crowd as the residents celebrated.

The legacy of the love Ryan and Robin had for each other and the hometown that gave them so much will be carried on through the children and grandchildren and the carnival for future generations.
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