In 1985, my mom, Sandra, who had a history of mental illness, purchased a handgun and took her own life. She left behind five children, between ages 5 and 14, whose lives have never been the same. My brother, the youngest, had been diagnosed with PTSD; he suffers from depression and has extreme anger around not remembering his own mother. It is so frustrating that 30-plus years have gone by, and accessibility to guns is just as lax as it was then.