Johnny Cash sang the following words in his Folsom Prison concert. The song was “Send a Picture of Mother.”
Won’t you tell the folks back home I’ll soon be coming
And don’t let them know I never will be free be free
Sometimes write and tell me how they’re doing
And send a picture of mother back to me
On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, I drove about 150 miles from my in-laws’ home to the Federal Prison in Talladega, Alabama. I went to see my first cousin, Lonnie Lundy.
Lonnie is 49 years old and has been in the Talladega prison since 1992. That is 15 years. Lonnie is 15 years into his life sentence, without the possibility of parole.
I cannot begin to describe how profoundly impacted I was by this visit. I have never been inside a prison or a jail for that matter. The prison in Talledega where Lonnie is located is a medium security facility and is therefore pretty tight.
My time with Lonnie was very edifying and actually encouraging to me. Hopefully it was encouraging to him as well. For a man who faces the likelihood of never seeing the outside again, his faith in Christ is sustaining him very well.
I will likely write more in the days to come about Lonnie and about my visit there. Oh, by the way Lonnie was convicted under federal law for conspiracy to traffic crack cocaine. It was his first offence.
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[...] federal law for conspiracy to traffic crack cocaine, and it was his first offence. In his post, Behind Bars, my dad describes his visit to the Federal Prison in Talladega, Alabama to see Lonnie. It was very [...]
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