This issue is deeply important to me because I lost my son, Caden, at the age of 18 after he was provided alcohol while under the legal drinking age. Although he was legally considered underage for the purpose of alcohol laws, the current Texas private-host liability law does not provide the same accountability when the person is 18, 19, or 20 years old because its protections are limited to those under age 18. As a mother, I believe this creates a dangerous gap in the law. If a person is legally too young to purchase or consume alcohol, they should not be considered too old to be protected by laws that hold adults accountable for knowingly providing alcohol to them or allowing underage drinking on property they own or lease. I am not asking for this change because I believe one law could have brought my son back. Nothing can do that. I am asking because his life mattered, and because other families should not have to discover this gap only after experiencing an unimaginable loss. Adults who knowingly provide alcohol to people under 21—or knowingly allow underage drinking at a private residence, rented venue, or other property—should have a greater responsibility for the risks created by those decisions. I want Texas law to recognize that 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds are still underage when it comes to alcohol. The law should be consistent: if they are too young to legally drink, they should not be too old to receive the protections and accountability intended to prevent underage alcohol-related tragedies. This petition is my way of giving Caden a voice and working toward a change that may help protect other young people and spare another family from the pain mine now carries every day.