Growing up I was shielded from a lot of things that was going on in my family and in the world. I had a great childhood and never felt like I had anything “bad” happen to me.

It wasn’t until my first week of high school when I started to realize how imperfect the world was.

It was a normal morning until I got to school to find everyone in tears. We were all in the cafeteria where we were placed before school started. I remember seeing a few people crying but I never would have thought I would have received the news I did that day.

One of my close friends found me and she said, “Did you hear what happened?” I had absolutely no clue what was she was going to say and I was not prepped for this moment. She said, “Daniel was shot last night.” (Daniel was my best friend) Right away I asked is he going to be okay?! She replied with, no he passed away.

My whole world came crashing down on top of me in seconds. I stood there with my mouth wide open and tears flooding my eyes and streaming down my face. I couldn’t believe it. How had my best friend died? He was just here.

I went to the bathroom with my older sister to call my dad. I could not even get the words to come out. My dad immediately came to school to pick me up. As I sat in the front lobby in tears I just kept thinking how could this happen? How could this happen to him?! On the ride home I sat with my head in my hands still in shock. Back at the house I tried to look on the news to find anything I could about what happened.

They finally released the story and I was devastated.

Daniel was killed in a double homicide. He died defending his mother from his stepdad. They were both fatally shot. His stepdad committed suicide right after the crime.

It will be seven years this August since I lost my friend to domestic violence. Since then I have been an advocate to stop domestic abuse. I learned that you can never actually know what’s going on with your friends and the people around you. I try to stay strong every day and it’s been anything but easy.

I miss him more and more everyday.

Please look out for your friends and love the ones closest to you like you never have before!