Gabby_ A Story of Courage and Hope - Alison Hanson [140]
Gabby was eager to perform well, and hopeful that Nancy would find ways to help her. Gloria thought Gabby was very much Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords that day—alert, serious, with good posture, her eyes focused on Nancy’s face during her opening remarks about her qualifications and her plans for the day.
Nancy noticed quickly that Gabby never wavered in her attention or ability to stay on task, that she could understand subtle directions, and that she was able to concentrate despite distractions in the house, including me walking around doing chores. “These facts alone are a very positive sign for Gabby’s recovery,” Nancy said.
Gabby did well on almost all of Nancy’s tests. Nancy laid out photos of various U.S. presidents in random order. Without being asked, Gabby began arranging them, left to right, chronologically. She eliminated the “ringer,” Ben Franklin, knowing he didn’t belong. She held up the photo of Franklin and said, “Wonderful. Electricity.”
Nancy scribbled in her notes: “For FDR, she spontaneously commented, ‘Roosevelt,’ ‘wheelchair,’ ‘braces.’ For Jimmy Carter, she said, ‘Habitat for Humanity.’”
Gabby earned a perfect score while arranging and identifying photos of other famous people, including First Ladies and politicians from other countries. She had no trouble identifying the face that didn’t belong in a particular group, and made appropriate comments without being asked. She called Margaret Thatcher “Iron Lady.”
Nancy was also impressed to see that Gabby was up on the news. Gabby looked at Arnold Schwarzenegger’s photo and said, “Messin’ around. Babies.’” When she looked at a photo of Michele Bachmann, she said “Tea Party” and “Running for president.”
Nancy gave Gabby a set of cards with photos that told a story, and asked her to put them in order. In Gabby’s early months at TIRR, this sort of exercise was beyond her, but now she aced it every time.
One set of illustrations was set at a gambling casino. Gabby easily put the cards in the correct order: (1) A man sits at a slot machine. (2) He looks frustrated; he’s obviously losing. (3) He abandons the machine. (4) Just then a woman appears and sits down at the machine. (5) The man watches her pull the lever. (6) The woman wins a jackpot.
Nancy wrote on a dry-erase board: Scotland, Ireland, Holland, England. “Which doesn’t belong?” she asked Gabby.
“Holland,” Gabby said, correctly.
Then Nancy wrote: “Cake, cookies, bread, pie.”
Gabby looked at the words. Nancy expected her to choose bread as the item that didn’t belong, since the other three words referred to desserts. But Gabby picked “cookies” instead. When we told her that “bread” was the correct answer, Gabby pointed to the “s” in cookies and then erased it. That was impressive, too. Gabby noticed that “cake,” “pie,” and “bread” were singular nouns. “Cookies” was a plural noun. It showed a high level of thinking.
“Gabby is paying better attention to everything than we are,” Nancy said.
She and Gabby also worked with money. She gave Gabby four twenties, eight fives, and three ones. Gabby put all the money in order of value and arranged the bills with all the faces in the same direction. Gabby had a difficult time making change for a twenty-dollar bill. But when it came time to give me back the bills I’d lent them from my wallet, Gabby knew exactly how much needed to be returned to me.
Nancy pulled no punches in her time with Gabby. She wanted to determine Gabby’s emotional and psychological state, and so she asked a question no one had asked since January 8. “Given all that has happened since the shooting,” Nancy said, “the tough times you’ve had, all the pain and sadness, are you glad you survived?”
“Yes, yes, yes!” Gabby said. Nancy was struck by her lack of hesitation.
Nancy’s question was surprising. We might assume that shooting victims who are in a vegetative state may wish they had died. But Gabby? She