BOULDER, Colo. — Inside her Boulder County home, Erika Mahoney is just like any other young parent, baking make-believe cakes and reading books to her 2-year-old daughter.
In a nearby room, her husband feeds their son some broccoli as they discuss the latest moves their daughter is learning in dance class.
“You’re so excited and so happy and all those little milestones are so beautiful and precious, and of course you want to share it with your parents,” said Mahoney.
Mahoney’s father, Kevin, was killed three years ago in a mass shooting at a Boulder grocery store.
Her family would later learn how close he was to safety, after finding his groceries in the trunk of the car in the parking lot.
“I couldn’t accept it,” Erika said. “It was such a sudden loss, and to not say goodbye is just awful.”
Erika was pregnant at the time of the shooting, and just three months away from the birth of her daughter.
“I lost a parent while becoming a parent. And it was just so hard to balance death and life at the same time,” she said. “It’s like that next chapter was just taken from him, and taken from me, and taken from my kids.”
Mahoney was working as a journalist in California at the time and only recently moved back home to Boulder County.
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Last year, she welcomed a son into the world and says “Grandpa Mahoney” is still a big part of her children’s lives.
Recently, she said her daughter has started asking questions about what happened.
“No one prepares you for how to explain this to your child, and I’m still figuring it out,” she said. “But I talk about Grandpa Mahoney, and she knows who he is, and she likes to look at pictures of him. She asks questions about him, and she wanted a picture of him in her room. And I tell her if she’s ever scared, she can ask Grandpa Mahoney for help.”
She hopes people in the community continue to focus on the 10 victims and continue to say their names and share their stories.
“My dad is still very much a presence in our family, like he is with us still,” said Mahoney. “My kids still have their grandpa, even though he’s not here in a physical sense, he’s here in the sense of his values, he’s here in stories and memories, and I love that. I love that. His legacy lives on through me and through my children.”
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