THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504160154
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: PAUL SOUTH
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Charred black still marks the spot in Kill Devil Hills where the tragedy occurred just two months ago.
A Delaware man drove his three small children from his estranged wife's home to the Outer Banks. For them, perhaps, it was to be a day at the beach. With plastic pails in tow, they would run and play in the golden sand.
But their father took them to a parking lot at the Wright Memorial Airport, put bullets in their small skulls and set his van aflame.
For hours, authorities believe, he sat watching in a nearby grove, his culpability hidden by trees and darkness. Twelve hours later, as officers approached, he took his own life. The bang of the gunshot proclaimed his guilt, and sent a shock of sadness across the country.
It is hard, these days, to drive down Colington Road without thinking of the children, and the grieving mother left behind to pick up the pieces of her life.
And it is hard not to think of the murder done here. The discolored asphalt, like a permanent scar, is a reminder that the world is a cruel and violent place that can take the trusting hearts of the innocent and crush them in the twinkling of an eye.
But on this weekend of Easter and Passover celebrations, the tragic scene is worth a second look. Now planted near the site are three dogwood trees, and at their feet a tiny garden of daffodils.
Three Colington residents placed the memorial there, a simple, yet poignant message, guided by the hand of God, that says, ``I care.'' Those three people want neither recognition nor fanfare. They simply wanted to bring something beautiful and good to a place where evil, for a moment, took a stranglehold. No strings attached.
Look at the dogwoods closely, those white blooms tinged bloodstain red. And there is the reminder of the themes of Easter. Forgiveness at the scene of unspeakable violence. Life affirming its triumph over death. And hope where despair once reigned.
And of the Passover, the daffodils seem gifts of repentance, laid at the feet of God by a people desperately seeking to show an act of kindness and love in a world often unlovable.
All from the simple bloom of the flower, crafted by the hand of a power greater than all of us.
That same hand planted the seed in the hearts of three folks from Colington, and in His own way showed us the meaning of this holy day.
Even in a place of terror, there is life. There is love. Unconditional love. by CNB