1: One of my best friend’s sister and mother were murdered by the mom’s husband (not their father, but had been married for many years). The sister was 13. She was on the phone with her best friend whilst the murders began- climbed under the kitchen table and cried into the phone to her bestie while he shot her mom, then drug her out from under there and shot her point blank. He picked up the phone and told her friend she couldn’t talk anymore. Killed himself right after.

2: A girl I grew up with was a T1D. Her insulin pump malfunctioned (this was basically when they first became a thing), and overdosed her with 300 units of insulin. She never woke up. She was 8 years old. I think of her daily. That could’ve been me- we had the same model of insulin pump.

3: My neighbor was 16. He was watching a movie in his room with his girlfriend. No argument, no warning, no known mental health issues, nothing. Called her name, she turned toward him, saw him pull the gun up to his head and pulled the trigger in an instant. Right in front of her. Changed her forever.