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If you know my story and my son Jordan’s story, you can understand why Mother’s Day is one of the hardest days of the year for me. This one in particular feels difficult. It is the 10th Mother’s Day I’ve spent without my son Jordan since he was shot and killed. An entire decade of Mother’s Days, wondering how we would have spent them together.  Today is also the one year anniversary of the mass shooting in Buffalo, which was another racially motivated shooting spree. And it’s just one weekend since the 2nd deadliest mass shooting of this year in Allen, TX. So while I am grieving today for my family, the families in Buffalo, and the families in Allen, I want to also share a bit with you on what mothering has meant and still means to me: Jordan was a miracle baby God gave me. I tried for so long to have a child. I had a stillborn child. I had another complicated pregnancy that doctors weren’t sure would make it. But, against all the odds – my baby Jordan was born. Then, more than 10 years ago in November, 2012 – my beautiful 17-year-old boy was killed by a man who shot 10 rounds at him, because he and his friends were playing loud music in their car at a gas station. Even though he's gone, I’m still mothering Jordan through this work. Now, I’m a “mother of the movement” to enact gun reforms in America. I carry Jordan’s memory in my heart every day — through our ups and downs, victories and setbacks. As we fight for stronger gun safety reforms to protect all of our families. No more children need to die because of “American gun culture.” No more mothers need to go through what I have had to go through. I'm grateful to God for turning my pain into purpose and for giving me the strength to keep going. And I'm grateful to you, John, for standing with me in this fight. With love - and especially for all my fellow mothers, -- Lucy McBath
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