I miss my beautiful, kind, smart nephew. He’d been hospitalized after a mental breakdown and was just released to an outpatient program. We found out later that he’d been able to legally purchase a handgun the same day he was released from the hospital because he lived in a state that wasn’t required to upload lists of in-patients to the background check list. This was before red flag laws. I can’t help but think if he’d had more time to heal he wouldn’t have made the decision he did to end his life.
He was a beloved son, brother and uncle. He loved to teach and was an accomplished windsurfer. I still picture him flying over the waves at the Columbia Gorge and doing 360s.
I joined Moms Demand Action and work in his memory so that other families don’t have to suffer the pain and loss that we’ve had to go through.