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Gabby and Mark returned to China and visited the Great Wall in 2005. The couple met on a 2003 trip to China sponsored by the National Committee on United States–China Relations. (Giffords/Kelly Family)

In May 2005, an Arizona Daily Star editorial gave mock awards to politicians and dubbed Gabby Arizona’s “Cheeriest Lawmaker,” writing: “Giffords wins praise from people on both sides of the aisle for her intelligence, her diligence at research, and the way she treats state senator like a real job instead of a title.” Gabby also earned a real award from the Arizona State Senate. (Raoul Erickson)

At their wedding on November 10, 2007, the emcee at the reception, Robert Reich, toasted “to a bride who moves at a velocity that exceeds that of anyone else in Washington, and to a groom who moves at a velocity that exceeds seventeen thousand miles per hour.” (Marc Winkelman)

Scott (left) was “my twin brother and best man,” says Mark. (Marc Winkelman)

Mark’s daughters Claire (left) and Claudia were nine and twelve years old when Mark and Gabby married. (© Daniel Snyder Photographer)

Gabby and Mark attended Laura and George Bush’s Christmas party at the White House in 2008. (Giffords/Kelly Family)

Mark arranged to deliver roses and a note to Gabby a minute after he was safely in space during his 2008 shuttle mission. Gabby’s dad, Spencer, watched the launch with her. (Marc Winkelman)

Gabby and Mark rode mules on a visit to the Arizona border. Congresswoman Giffords worked hard to get more federal support for border security. (Office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords)

Gabby and Mark hiked in the Grand Canyon on November 27, 2010, just three weeks after she was elected to a third term in Congress. (Raoul Erickson)

At a community meeting near the border in Douglas, Arizona, Gabby named her top priorities for her second term in Congress as “border security, economic security, national security, and energy security.” (© P. K. Weis/www.SouthWestPhotoBank.com)

Gabby talks to Iraqi troops during a 2007 congressional delegation trip. (Office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords)

Gabby visited Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson during her 2010 campaign. She is seen here climbing into an A-6E Intruder, the same type of aircraft that Mark flew in the Gulf War. (Office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords)

Gabby and Mark attended a Girl Scout event in her district. Gabby wore the pin she’d saved since her own days as a Girl Scout. (© P. K. Weis/www.SouthWestPhotoBank.com)

Gabby and Mark watched the 2010 election returns in a room in the Tucson Marriott University Park with (from left to right) friend Marc Winkelman; Gabby’s chief of staff, Pia Carusone; her district director, Ron Barber; and staffer Jennifer Cox. (Giffords for Congress)

Standing between Mark and Gabby as she addressed the crowd of supporters on election night 2010 is Rodd McLeod, her longtime campaign manager. (© A. T. Willett/www.atwillett.com)

The new Speaker of the House John Boehner swore Gabby into her third term on January 5, 2011, three days before she was critically wounded. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Gabby’s staffers at the start of the 2011 legislative session included (from left to right) Ron Barber, the Arizona district director; Gabe Zimmerman, community outreach director; and C. J. Karamargin, communications director. Gabe Zimmerman was killed in the shooting, along with five others. Barber was one of thirteen wounded. (Stephanie Coronado)

Constituent Matthew Laos, an Army Reservist, came to the Congress on Your Corner event on January 8, 2011, to show Gabby his military commendation following his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Seconds later, Gabby and eighteen others were shot. (Office of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords)

The Purple Heart on Gabby’s bed in the ICU at the University Medical Center in Tucson was dropped off at the hospital by an anonymous soldier the day after she was shot. (Mark Kelly)

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