The Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre which left 28 people dead in December 2012 forced each and every one of us to consider the fragility of life and, most painfully, the mortality of our own children.
Opening up on the third anniversary of the mass shooting which claimed the life of her little boy, one grief stricken mum reflects on the event which changed the course of her life forever.
When Nicole Hockley sent her six-year-old son Dylan to school this day three years ago, she never imagined it would be the last time she would see her little boy alive - something which she struggles to comes to terms with as she faces into her third Christmas without him.
Like all of us, Nicole says she navigated day to day family life as best she could, explaining: "I was just another mother who really knew nothing about gun violence, politics, lobbying, activism, or how to create social change. I was like so many people in our country, part of the silent majority."
With admirable candour, Nicole explains how her son's death at the hands of gun-wielding Newtown resident, Adam Lanza, has impacted every aspect of her life, writing: "Grief and pain have altered the lines on my face. The way I view the world has changed. Interactions with friends and family often seem foreign."
"In one incomprehensible moment, the world changed for me and I changed with it. The tragedy transformed every aspect of my life, not only because of the obvious absence of my son, but because of the constant hole left in me that can never be filled."
Nicole, who is also mum to Dylan's older brother, Jake, reveals that the tragedy which unfolded in her son's school that winter morning has altered her ability to simply look forward.
"My entire life is now viewed by the prism of before and after. I mark the passage of time, birthdays, holidays, the first day of school, and the last day of school."
"I see Jake growing older, but Dylan is frozen in time forever, and a part of me is frozen with him. There are no words to describe how much it hurts," she explains in the post which originally appeared in Politico Magazine.
Like any parent who has suffered the loss of a child, Nicole explains that an inordinate amount of effort goes into keeping her composure on a daily basis.
"I suppress my feelings constantly, for fear if I were to really ever let them out, if I ever truly allowed myself to cry, I would never be able to stop. It would completely destroy me."
Nicole, who has founded non-profit organisation Sandy Hook Promise, has dedicated herself to providing schools with research-based prevention programmes in mental health and gun safety,
Our thoughts go out to Nicole and her family this Christmas.
