Andy,
My life has never been the same since Dec. 14, 2012.
That day, I put my beautiful butterfly Dylan on the bus wearing a red shirt and jeans – only to later have the police return those clothes to me, riddled with bullet holes.
The person I was before Dec. 14, 2012, bears very little resemblance to the person I am now – the person who has spent 13 years reliving the nightmare of my baby boy’s murder over and over again. The person who spends every day wondering what he would look like now – watching his brother Jake grow up while Dylan is frozen in time, forever 6 years old.
It doesn't feel like it's been 13 years since I last heard him laugh or felt one of his deep, deep hugs – but at the same time, it feels like it's been 100 years.
I just miss my son Dylan so much.
I honestly wish I wasn’t writing this email. I wish I was wrapping presents for both of my kids, or hearing about Dylan’s day, but that’s not how my journey is playing out. Instead, I push through and keep doing this work because it’s the only way to keep other parents from going through this same unending agony.
Right now, we’re still very short of our goal to raise $1 million so we can expand our life-saving work to protect more children from gun violence, and we only have until midnight to close the gap. So please, will you donate now to help prevent more school shootings?
Sometimes I think I must be dreaming all of this – that it never happened. There's a strange moment every morning when I wake up, and for a brief second, everything is how it used to be. But reality always comes. I realize all over again that my beautiful butterfly Dylan is still gone forever.
The only way I can move forward is by building a legacy for Dylan and doing all I can to protect other children from gun violence. Your support of this work helps me do that, and I can't thank you enough.
With love,
Nicole Hockley (Dylan’s mom)
