Gabby's Story

She continues to inspire me, each and every day. She's so much better now, stronger and tougher in her own words, which you can see in this video clip.  I tried to embed it, but the platform won't allow it.

She's comfortable in her own skin, and that's the part that moves me the most.  She's not tentative.  She's smiling and she's joking - with her husband and with her dog.  Her words are more fluent and her expressions more reflective of her inner self.

Aphasia, as Gabby says in this story, sucks.  The words are there; she just can't find them.  I cannot imagine the hours she's spent on her search.  My struggles to acquire a fluid gait pale in comparison to my Congresswoman's struggle to speak.

And yet, she smiles.  She leans into Mark and he squeezes her shoulder and they agree that looking backward is useless.  There is only tomorrow.  I've heard Gabby say it.  I've heard her mother say it.  In the clip, I heard Mark say it.

We haven't forgotten what happened, but we're not stuck there.  We are moving forward, dragging our reluctant and recalcitrant and frustrating bodies along for the ride.  We are more than our disabilities.  We are strong.  We are courageous.  We are bold

Gabrielle Giffords Continues to Inspire.  It's a bumper sticker and it's a promise to myself.

If she can be all those things, then so can I.