Gabby_ A Story of Courage and Hope - Alison Hanson [147]
As Gabby and I headed to the airport—I was coming from home, she was coming from TIRR’s outpatient facility—her deputy press secretary, Ashley Nash-Hahn, offered to help. Over her lunch break, she ran into a Washington mall to buy black pants and three blazers for Gabby to choose from. Ashley selected one teal blazer, another houndstooth, and a third in basic black. She found pants with a wide leg opening to accommodate the brace Gabby now wore on her right leg.
Ashley also needed to find shoes for Gabby, and buying those was a complicated task. Gabby had worn only sneakers since January 8. And because the brace on her right leg went from her knee to the tips of her toes, she needed a size 8 shoe for her left foot and a size 10 for her right. To give Gabby a few choices, and to make sure she could cobble together a pair of shoes in both sizes, Ashley came back from her shopping expedition with six boxes of shoes. She’d return whatever didn’t work or fit.
As Gabby and I were heading for the airport in separate cars, my phone rang. It was Kay, the nurse, making sure I had brought Gabby’s medications. I had assumed that Gabby’s meds were in the bag she took to rehab each day, but I was wrong. I had to turn the car around.
Even with that mix-up, Gabby and I were able to make a 12:51 p.m. Continental Airlines flight from Houston to Washington, boarding last so we wouldn’t be too conspicuous. It was Gabby’s first time flying commercial since January 8, and though some passengers may have recognized her, they just nodded politely. Gabby was still in the sweatpants and sweatshirt she’d worn to rehab.
I had printed out the eight-page, section-by-section summary of the debt-ceiling bill before leaving the house, and brought it on the plane for Gabby. She studied it, line by line, and it was actually not so hard to follow. She understood the major points, and so did I. Among them: The bill saved $1 trillion over ten years, balanced between cuts to defense and non-defense spending, by capping discretionary spending. It also established a bipartisan “super committee” to achieve an additional $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction.
Gabby and I were able to watch CNN on the plane’s television, and Gabby paid close attention to the speculation about whether the measure would pass. No one was sure what time the House would vote, and it was possible that Gabby would miss it while we were still on the plane.
We landed at Reagan National Airport just after 5 p.m., and voting hadn’t yet begun. In case Gabby decided not to vote, almost no one knew we were coming to town. But given the magnitude of the day politically, the airport was crowded with lawmakers, House staffers, journalists. We decided Pia would quickly push Gabby through the airport, and I’d follow a couple minutes later. One of us might not be noticed. But the combination of the astronaut people had seen on TV and the short-haired woman in a wheelchair was a give-away. They’d figure out who we were and our cover would be blown.
Representative Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Tennessee, was the first person at the airport to recognize Gabby. “Gabby!” he called out.
“Steve!” she said.
He wanted Pia to stop the wheelchair so they could chat, but she told him, “Congressman Cohen. We’re trying to be discreet here.” He lowered his voice and they all got on the elevator together, where he and Gabby had a more private reunion.
The Capitol Police had a car waiting for us. Ashley was there, too, with the three outfits she’d bought and the six pairs of shoes, in case Gabby needed to change in the car on her way to the Capitol.