MARSHALL - The night Sheila Bass heard her daughter Morgan, 17, had been killed in a crash on Minnesota Highway 23 near Cottonwood, she prayed.
"I immediately asked God what I should do," Bass said. "He said two things. I needed to live because I was not the only one who lost Morgan. And I needed to forgive Courtney (the driver in the crash) because she is also His child. I did not even know her (Courtney Voorhees) name at that point."
Bass and her husband Ted Bass, of Kandiyohi did forgive Voorhees for drunken driving and driving the vehicle that hit their daughter Morgan Leigh Cline's vehicle parked on the side of Highway 23 on Nov. 12 near Cottonwood.
"I could have been in her shoes a number of years ago," Sheila Bass said. "There is a verse in the Bible that says, 'he who is without sin, cast the first stone.'
"I can't condemn (Voorhees) for things I've done myself."
"It could have been anyone," Ted Bass said. "It's not just drunken driving, it's a bad decision."
It could have been a driver who was using a cell phone, texting on the cell phone or not paying attention in another way, Bass said.
But on Nov. 12 it was Voorhees. Their daughter was a senior at Willmar High School and was enrolled as a student in the post-secondary education option program at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. She was a committed Christian, determined to share her love and faith in Christ with everyone she met, her parents said.
Voorhees, her husband Lucas, and friends and family attended Tuesday's plea hearing in Lyon County District Court where Voorhees pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal vehicular homicide and criminal vehicular injury for Cline's death and injury to Dustin J. Woodworth, 18, of Marshall, a passenger in Cline's car.
Cline's parents were also at that hearing and sat with Voorhees' family.
"I didn't think forgiveness was something I'd ever (receive)," Voorhees said.
"It was just a shock to me that someone could have that much faith to be that kind to want to forgive me so I could work on forgiving myself," Voorhees said. "I am working on forgiving myself.
"I think forgiveness is on-going and it will be for the rest of my life," Voorhees added. "How do you live with the fact you took someone's life?"
She's taken responsibility and has agreed to a serve a three-year, five-month prison term in a plea agreement that has not yet been acted on in court.
Ted Bass said if Voorhees hadn't taken responsibility for her actions, they likely wouldn't be doing things like speaking in church together or meeting with Voorhees. Still, they'd be forgiving her.
"We'd forgive her, and what she'd do with that would be up to her," Ted Bass said.
The parents have attached no emotional pressure to the forgiveness.
"I've gotta think she will be under a certain pressure not to screw up," Sheila Bass said. "But we've talked to her. She will mess up. We all mess up. The only one who was perfect was Jesus."
While Cline's parents have forgiven Voorhees, it doesn't mean they don't experience pain and sadness at the death of their daughter.
"I had one of those moments (Monday)," Sheila Bass said. "A song came on the radio and it was one of Morgan's favorite songs."
Her voice broke to tears when she said, "When that happens, I have to take a moment. I miss her and wish she was still here. Then, I think of where she is and realize she does not want to come back here."
Ted Bass grabbed his wife's hand and said he, too, has such moments.
The parents and Voorhees have been willing to share their story with others. They spoke together at Cline's church in Willmar and this past Sunday at Swan Lake Evangelical Church in Cottonwood.
Sheila Bass said among those attending Sunday's service were relatives of children involved in the Feb. 19, 2008, Lakeview School Bus crash that killed four students and injured several other students and another driver.
Olga Franco, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, was convicted in the crash but maintained throughout the 2008 trial she was not the driver of the van and said her boyfriend was driving when the crash happened.
"The community itself is still trying to recover from that loss," Sheila Bass said. "A lot of people said to me one of the biggest issues they have is the person who caused the accident won't take responsibility."
But forgiveness doesn't require that, Cline's parents said.
"We need to forgive and let God take care of the rest," Sheila Bass said.
Voorhees, too, said she was angry when the bus crash happened and angry with Franco.
Voorhees said she understands the difficulty people have when Franco doesn't take responsibility.
Still, "I can definitely feel for her, if she is feeling guilty and trying to live with what she did," Voorhees said. "She didn't get up in the morning and say she was going to kill four kids. No matter what, I hope that when people hear our story, they may be able to, just a little bit, forgive her."
Voorhees understands the meaning of such an act.
"I have been given a wonderful gift," Voorhees said. "I know this has made a huge change in my life. I will be six months sober soon and I didn't know if I'd ever see that day. What I did was a horrible thing, but I can still look in the mirror and be OK with me."