KENNEWICK -- a year ago this week, two families were shocked by a deadly Kennewick shooting.

It left 22-year-old Wendy Rae dead and her 38-year-old boyfriend Jason Jansen blind.

Both were shot in the head.

Investigators suspected Wendy Rae shot her boyfriend and then shot herself.

Wendy's family has always disagreed.

Now, the survivor, Jason Jansen explains what happened that fatal night and about his road back to recovery.

"D," "E," "I," "F," deaf," Jason Jansen's sister Chrissy said out loud, as she ran her fingers over a braille book.

"Oh yeah, D-E-A-F, deaf," Jansen repeated back.

"She'd open an eye and she'd peak in, and the lady'd say 'close your eyes now,' then she'd catch her peaking again" Jason said about Chrissy's attempts to cheat while learning braille from a teacher.

Jason jansen and his sister Chrissy are learning braille together. They started just a few days ago, and already know the first few letters and numbers.

"I can see a little bit up here, but my vision is way worse than 2400," Jason said.

Jason is blind.

After nearly three months in the hospital, four reconstructive surgeries, and nine doctors on stand-by, Jason is back home with his family in Kennewick.

"You just learn to appreciate life and not take that for granted," Chrissy said. "We're thankful he's alive."

"I miss my eye. I miss Wendy. It's been tough," he said.

Last July, a bullet went through his frontal lobe behind his eyes. Jason said his girlfriend of more than three years, Wendy Rae, shot him in the head while they were sitting in a parked El Camino in the driveway of their home.

"It all happened so fast. And I didn't believe she shot me. Cause I didn't remember her shooting me. All I remember is her kissing my cheek and telling me she loved me. I don't remember anything else."

Then he said Wendy shot herself. Her death certificate says she committed suicide.

"I'm learning to deal with my feelings toward her, cause I miss her a lot. It's been hard, it's been hard to deal with it."

Jason said he and Wendy were fighting at that time, and looking back, said there were symptoms something was wrong with Wendy.

"But I never thought it would come to that," he said. "I never thought it would come to that. I really didn't. I thought she valued her life more than that."

The coroner reports that Wendy died around 2 a.m July 8, 2007. About 4 hours later, Jason's dad found him outside the car and called police. When Jason woke up he was at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

"And I'm all 'go get Wendy, go get Wendy," he said he asked of the doctors. "And they said 'Jason, Wendy's gone." I said "Well go get her, go get her.' And they couldn't go get her."

A year later, Jason has learned in-home skills, to cook, dry dishes, even mow the lawn...with some help. And he said, he wants to have a job, hopefully, working with cars again.

But Jason still has slight memory loss, he works with State Center for the Blind, the Edith Bishel Center for the Blind , the Sexual Assault Response Center, a counselor and several doctors almost daily.

Chrissy goes with Jason to almost every appointment.

They both know, he still has a long road ahead.

"This year, I think you've come a long way," Chrissy said. "I think you're doing really well. And next year I'll think you'll be better."

Indeed, this experience has been difficult on Jason and the family. But they stay optimistic.

"We try to make things fun," he said. "and I know it's been a horrible year, it's been a terrible year. But you got to get over the grief and get on to the good stuff."