On the morning of June 13, 2014, my life was forever changed when my beautiful, vivacious, 23-year-old daughter Aja Dawn Robinson was gunned down in a parking lot in Columbia, South Carolina, by an ex-boyfriend who then committed suicide.
Aja was a hardworking young woman, working two jobs, and was excited to be moving into her first apartment soon. Her murder shattered me and has had a tremendous impact on our entire family.
I will be forever be thankful for the memories that I have of Aja — her silly laugh and her ability to draw everyone around her in with the joy that she radiated. Her love of animals, especially cats, and the many strays that she claimed “followed her home” and stayed. But man…. Do I miss my baby girl. The holidays are horrific. Her birthday…Mother’s Day. But the worst day of all? June 13 of every year. Five years have passed, and I still cannot make it through that week, that day, without breaking down. Losing Aja was losing Lisa. I will never again be the same Lisa that I was June 12, 2013.