My sister was murdered in 1991. The gunman who killed her in her own home was never apprehended. She never had the opportunity to meet her five grandchildren and they never knew the talented woman who could have taught them so much. Her younger daughter died of leukemia three years ago on the night before Christmas Eve. Her daughter was robbed of the mother who could and would have supported her during her illness. I am 70 years old, my other sister is 86, and our brother is 74. I fear that we will never know what happened or why. It is an ache that never goes away. You do not recover from this kind of loss. You accommodate it so that you can move on with your life but the pain is always there. A song, a picture, a flower, anything that triggers a memory brings the pain back again and again.
A National Conversation on How We Can Prevent Gun Deaths and Injuries
Personal Stories & Tributes
Tribute to Chance Allen Caffery
On December 21, 1982, God loaned a baby and on February 18, 2006, He needed an angel: my boy, Chance Allen Caffery. My son was getting ready for his son Gavin’s first birthday party. Chance had been home less than a few moments when Glenford Hull, his neighbor of upstate New York, called him out [...]
Tribute to Patrick Nunnelley
On July 24, 2010, evil met my son Patrick Nunnelley. Patrick was shot point blank with a .22 caliber pistol in his left eye. His murderer, a previously convicted sex offender, who has no respect for the law robbed him of his life. The pain and devastation brought to our family by this person is [...]
Tribute to Antonio E. Marquez
On October 26, 2002, Antonio E. Marquez was shot and killed as he and his pregnant wife stopped to help a homeless person on the corner of 21st and Western in Chicago. Antonio left his unborn child and eight-year-son. This tribute is for him: a tribute to who he was in life. But most importantly, [...]
Tribute to William B. Jenkins
My sixteen year-old son, William Jenkins, was shot and killed in 1997 when he was on his second day of work at a fast food restaurant in Richmond, Virginia. His promising life was cut short by a man who easily obtained a handgun and held up the restaurant at closing time. William Jenkins would have [...]
Tribute to Terry Turner
On April 4,2008, Terry Turner, Jr. and I became the proud parents of a beautiful nine-pound girl that we named Terriana. I also have a 15-year-old son named Ivan, so Terry became a father double-time and he was the best. He truly loved our children. Right after Terriana was born, Terry and I married on [...]
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