Gabby_ A Story of Courage and Hope - Alison Hanson [0]
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Copyright © 2011 by Gabrielle Giffords and Mark E. Kelly
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First Scribner hardcover edition November 2011
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DESIGNED BY ERICH HOBBING
Manufactured in the United States of America
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
ISBN 978-1-4516-6106-4 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4516-6109-5 (eBook)
In memory of
Christina-Taylor Green, Dorothy Morris,
John Roll, Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard,
and Gabriel Zimmerman
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: The Beach
Chapter 2: A New Year
Chapter 3: The Things We Have in Common
Chapter 4: “Tomorrow”
Chapter 5: A Family of Risk-Takers
Chapter 6: “Fly Away Home”
Chapter 7: Big Dreams
Chapter 8: Baby Steps
Chapter 9: With This Ring
Chapter 10: The Ace of Spades
Chapter 11: Second Chances
Chapter 12: Higher Callings
Chapter 13: “I Wonder What Happened”
Chapter 14: Tucson
Chapter 15: Sunrise
Chapter 16: What Would Gabby Want?
Chapter 17: The Parameters of a Miracle
Chapter 18: STS-134
Chapter 19: From a Distance
Chapter 20: Great Signs of Progress
Chapter 21: Inch by Inch
Chapter 22: Back to Work
Chapter 23: Gabby’s Voice
Acknowledgments
GABBY
CHAPTER ONE
The Beach
I used to be able to tell just what my wife, Gabby, was thinking.
I could sense it in her body language—the way she leaned forward when she was intrigued by someone and wanted to soak up every word being said; the way she nodded politely when listening to some know-it-all who had the floor; the way she’d look at me, eyes sparkling, with that full-on smile of hers, when she wanted me to know she loved me. She was a woman who lived in the moment—every moment.
Gabby was a talker, too. She was so animated, using her hands as punctuation marks, and she’d speak with passion, clarity, and good humor, which made her someone you wanted to listen to. Usually, I didn’t have to ask or wonder what she was thinking. She’d articulate every detail. Words mattered to her, whether she was speaking about immigration on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, or whether she was alone with me, talking about her yearning to have a child.
Gabby doesn’t have all those words at her command anymore, at least not yet. A brain injury like hers is a kind of hurricane, blowing away some words and phrases, and leaving others almost within reach, but buried deep, under debris or in a different place. “It’s awful,” Gabby will say, and I have to agree with her.
But here’s the thing: While Gabby struggles for words, coping with a constant frustration that the rest of us can’t fathom, I still know what she’s thinking much of the time. Yes, her words come haltingly or imperfectly or not at all, but I can still read her body language. I still know the nuances of that special smile of hers. She’s still contagiously animated and usually upbeat, using her one good hand for emphasis.
And she still knows what I’m thinking, too.
There’s a moment that Gabby and I are going to hold on to, a moment that speaks to our new life together and the way we remain connected. It was in late April 2011, not quite