When Violence Hits Home

I always knew that life could change in an instant. As a child growing up in a household with domestic violence, I remember being acutely aware that the happy times were just temporary reprieves and that a sudden outburst was only moments away. Today marks an important anniversary for my family. Forty-Two years ago, my mother died of several gunshot wounds inflicted by my father. It took me years to speak about my family's tragedy and even now as I write these words, it seems as if I'm referring to some other family, some other mother.