Unknown Days

Guest Post by Mary Lou Kirby

Parents should never outlive their children, but since Satan does roam, devouring the innocent, many families, such as ours, are left with a huge hole in their life without a clue how to fill it. My two children, Randy was 21 and Janie was 19, were Harding college students. They met evil on December 17, 1973 at the Rome airport on their way to join us for Christmas and fill my empty arms and heart. My husband, Dewie, and I, were stationed in Saudi Arabia with an oil company at the time. Randy and Janie had touched down in Rome on a layover when evil entered their plane. Our sweet Janie did not survive the terrorist attack that killed 31 people. 

Children are our children no matter their age and the “letting to” period is hard, but it is part of our job as parents. We must instill a true sense of “God’s Presence” in their lives because we do not know what they will have to face in the future. Knowing God is presence in their life is the protective shield they will need when they meet evil.

We lost our Janie that day and only by the hand of God guiding our steps through the black hole of grief did we survive. Our son, Randy, survived the attack. He was there in Rome, alone, trying to locate his sister. He asked a pilot for assistance in writing a letter in Italian to take to the hospitals to find Janie. We received a letter from that pilot. Here’s what he wrote: “I did not know your daughter, Janie, but I met a young man in your son, Randy, who became a grown man overnight.”

So, parents, let’s not forget to fill our children with the “Presence of God” that it may guide them through the days of unknown that lay ahead for them. 

Note from Chrys: Janie Kirby was my friend from Camp Ch-Yo-Ca and Harding University. She was a year younger than me. My sister went on to marry her brother, Randy Kirby in 1975. We did not know him personally at the time of this attack. I remember how sad I was as we heard the news of this tragedy reported on our TV’s. I was home with my new baby, Korie, when the first report was aired. I was in disbelief and thought surely they got the name wrong, but it was true. Janie had been killed. As a young college student and new mom, my eyes were opened to evil in a way they had never been before. 

I appreciate the example Mary Lou and Dewie have been to me all these many years of resilience, faith in God, and love for family. As Mary Lou says, “Family is the network created by our Creator to fulfill “His Plans” of salvation in a world where Satan and sin roam wildly. Children are blessed gifts to families and it’s our job, as parents, to nurture them into the continuation of His Plan.”

They walked the walk of know they were in God’s presence at all times and instilled that in their children and now in hundreds of others as they worked and served God together for many years until Dewie’s death in 2003.  Mary Lou continues to serve God in many ways, one of them is mentoring young women at our local church. We are blessed to have her.