My cousin Jeff was the coolest guy I knew. He was always someone I was in awe of when I was a little girl. The ladies loved him; he was a local sports star; he had tons of friends and a family who adored him. My dad was the one who told me he shot himself with his rifle. I still remember sitting in the front seat of my car when he told me. I couldn’t believe it. When I heard he survived, but the bullet was lodged in his throat, I couldn’t believe it. When my dad told me that if the bullet was removed, he would be either paralyzed or instantly dead, I couldn’t believe it. When he died 11 years later from an infection related to that bullet I. Could. Not. Believe. It.