My big brother, Jim, was six feet four inches tall, kind, smart, funny and sometimes depressed. He was a father of two beautiful little girls, 2 and 9 years old. He was a husband and a son.
It has been 30 years since my brother died after shooting himself in the head in our family’s shop. I was holding our newborn son, Matthew, when I got the phone call from my mom. She had just found my brother … dead. I cried and screamed in disbelief. He left a wife and two beautiful daughters, a mother and three sisters, and numerous friends and relatives.
We are all changed. Sometimes it seems like a long time ago and sometimes it seems like yesterday, but it always seems preventable to me. My aunt and my cousin died from suicide by guns too.
We must come together with gun owners, the NRA and our legislators and do all in our power to establish a culture of gun safety and to advocate for sensible gun laws and better mental health care for all.