DATE: Sunday, August 3, 1997                TAG: 9708030096
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Paul South 

                                            LENGTH:   58 lines

DEATH CAME ALL TOO SOON TO PLYMOUTH, TO US ALL

Reality ripped at our hearts Wednesday afternoon - cold, callous and quick. Ten young people, all members of the Plymouth High School band, were taken in a twinkling of the eye.

One family lost two sons. Nine families mourn their children, and a whole town grieves over the hope those kids represented, now lost.

And we are left with a single question that no one this side of the Almighty can answer.

Why?

Highway Patrol reports will give the mechanical details of death - time, date, location and cause. Photographers will take their pictures, for the record, of instruments strewn across N.C. Route 45.

And we will be left behind to grieve for them, and pray for their families.

I have no children of my own. And frankly, I envy friends of mine who do. One of the amazing things, though, is the unconditional love that parents possess for their children. It's evident in a warm caress, a touch, a glance. Words cannot describe it, but it's there.

And when children pass away, ahead of their parents, the grief is inconsolable.

Almost 20 years ago, Donnie Givens had just completed his football career at Auburn University. As a senior, he was selected co-captain, and was second team All-SEC. On a warm Alabama night in September, he crashed a friend's car into a bridge support on Interstate 85 between Montgomery and Auburn. He was identified by the engraving on the back of his Auburn University watch.

Three days later, his friends gathered in a small Episcopal church. As each left the service, they stopped and shook hands with Donnie's mother and father.

Mr. Givens and I had spent a great many days in the preceding years talking about football and the pride he had in his son. Rarely a week went by that he didn't attend one practice, smiling at his son's efforts.

``He's not the biggest. He's not the fastest,'' Mr. Givens would say. ``But he's got heart.''

On that sad, warm September day when they laid his son to rest, Mr. Givens said the words that every parent feels.

``I loved him so,'' he said, his voice choking with sobs.

To this day, I wonder why Donnie had to die.

And so it is for the good folks of Plymouth.

But no matter the reason, those 10 youngsters are gone. And it seems to me that the best things to do in times like this is to hug our children a bit harder, love them despite their shortcomings, and celebrate grandly their successes.

And this morning, as you worship in the way you feel comfortable, pray for the families of those children.

It's all we can do. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

``Highway Patrol reports will give the mechanical details of death.

... And we will be left behind to grieve for them, and pray for

their families.''

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