Nine months and 18 days after Makenna Jo was born, we were getting ready for a trip to the zoo that never happened. On February 21, 2010, while sitting in her high chair, Makenna was shot in the face by her father. Her father, a USMC combat veteran, suffered from PTSD. He was hypervigilant about security, and one of the ways that manifested was by practicing “dry firing.”
His new Glock had a round in the chamber that day, however. He negligently discharged a round and shot and killed my daughter. He subsequently spent time in prison. Our family ripped apart.
Ten years later, I’m not the person I was then. I love harder, forgive quicker and empathize deeper. I’m a better person, but my little person is gone. Who was she to be?