9 year old Michaela and her best friend, Katrina Rodriguez, asked Michaela's mother Sharon if they could go to Rainbow Market to get some candy and sodas. [1] [21] [22]

 

Rainbow Market was only two blocks away. [2] Her mother Sharon Garecht had never let Michaela go to the market before without someone older accompanying her. In the past Michaela had been to the market with two neighbor girls, but they were teenagers, much older than Katrina who was Michaela's age. [2]

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"I didn’t want to let her go, and at first I told her no.  But she begged and begged, and so I gave in, and let her go.  I stood at the door and watched as the girls picked up their scooters from the driveway to leave.  Michaela turned to me. “I love you, mom,” she said. “I love you, too, Michaela,” I told her. Those were our last words to each other.  I stood and watched as the girls glided down the driveway and to the end of the block, until they turned out of sight."

-Sharon Garecht, Michaela's mother [3]