
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, May 24, 1993                   TAG: 9305240259
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LOSING A SON, AND A BEST FRIEND

I AM PLEADING with those who will graduate this spring to remember that alcohol destroys lives. Just when I needed my father the most and needed to know him on a more adult level, alcohol was responsible for his death. That was unbearable. Then I allowed alcohol to rule and destroy my life until 11 years ago when I stopped drinking.

For the past 10 years, I enjoyed my son. We were father and son and best friends. Then on Dec. 11, 1992, he was killed in a tragic wreck. Both the driver of the car in which my son was a passenger and the driver of the other car were legally drunk under Wyoming state law. You can never imagine the pain and grief a parent goes through in losing a child, so save your life for the future plans you have made. Push for prosecution of intoxicated drivers. JIM C. LANE ROANOKE

by CNB