I was a single mother in the army for 22 years. I decided to retire, so I could take care of my three children. Seven months after I retired, someone shot and killed my firstborn son. It was all gang-related: They killed him to get promoted in their gang. Our lives were shattered.
I am not the same. I cry all the time. I have been admitted to the mental hospital. The pain is still so hard to bear, between my grief and PTSD. I’m lost in this world.
Gun violence has changed us forever. I don’t see the world as safe anymore. I fought for our freedom, and I don’t even feel free.