January 8th

It doesn't have any other name.  It doesn't make the list of mass shootings on the chyrons.  It was a big deal and then not so much of one and every now and then it comes around again.

I wish it wouldn't.  I wish people wouldn't have to worry about me, about how I'm doing, about where I'll spend the day, about how they can help.

I wish it were just another Tuesday.

But it's not.  It's a very special Tuesday this year, one that makes me smile.  Today, on the anniversary of the assassination of a Federal Judge and the attempted assassination of a sitting Congresswoman, that Congresswoman will join the Speaker of the House as a bill is introduced to make meaningful changes in our nation's gun laws.

It won't solve everything. It won't fix the problem.  It's not enough and much too late.  True, all true.

But today, my Before-and-After Day, my government is working to make me safer.  Background checks as outlined in this bill would have thrown a monkey wrench into our shooter's plan to go to a store and buy a weapon designed to kill.  He was on a list, but not the right list.  That problem is addressed today by our nation's leaders.  They are standing together to tackle which cannot be fixed.

No one can give me back my little friend.  I'm not asking for that.  I wanted her to be remembered, for her loss to have meaning as life went on.  And so, 7 years after kindergarteners were gunned down in their classrooms, our legislators are taking a stand.

A small stand, but a meaningful one.  H.R. 8.... in honor of Gabby, and, I choose to believe, all the rest of us too.  All of a sudden, 8 isn't such an awful number.