First person narrative is a very effective tool but you have to know as a writer how to make it work.
Writing for me is cutting out the fat and getting to the meaning.
I put headlights in Ford vans. I still drive a Ford.
There are two responses to really awful things. One is to lament and say, "Oh my God, oh lord." And the other is to laugh at it a little bit, try your best to deal with it and, if you can, forget about it as soon as possible.
My family is my career.
What humor allows you to do is to let the past go with less pain. It's a healing element. It releases some of the pain from the shotgun wound.