This Is What The Empty Seat At Obama’s State Of The Union Means

For the past three and a half years, ever since her son Alex was killed in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater, Caren Teves has left an empty seat at her family’s dining room table. The extra place setting is particularly hard to bear on Thanksgiving, 圣诞节, and every other holiday since her oldest son’s life was ended at just 24 岁, 她说：.

“Every Christmas it doesn’t get easier, it gets more difficult,” Teves told ThinkProgress. “Every year we set a place for him. During holidays, and birthdays, and celebrations, we always set a place for Alex.” During the State of the Union on Tuesday night, President Obama will also leave a seat open in the First Lady’s box to remember victims of gun violence like Alex “who no longer have a voice,” the White House announced this week.

阅读更多: ThinkProgress.org