Gun Violence Survivors Week is the first week of February, which happens to intersect with what used to be my favorite day: my birthday, February 6. I shared my birthday with my cousin Hope Ann; we were born on the same day, 12 years apart. She was my big sister, really. She died by suicide two years ago, and now my birthday has become a more solemn day. When I blow out my candles, I wish I could hear Hope singing to me and that I could give her a hug and say “I love you, happy birthday.”