The Burrow

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 hea...

I can't wait until tomorrow morning to post this.  It must be said, and it must be said NOW. ***** It caused me to gasp aloud, cover my mouth, and shriek inside my skull.  The Republican nominee for President of the United States sent me crashing into tears and sweats and No No No No ringing in my ears.  Susan Collins is right; the man shows no empathy. At a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina, this morning, he said this: If she gets to pick her judges...... nothing you can do, folks. (Pause. Tilt of the head.  Quick glance at the podium as he turns to the front and finishes: Although the 2nd Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know. Trump's people can spin that six ways from Sunday, but they can't take away my gasp.  They can blather on about the power of unification  but my heart and my brain and my fight-or-flight reflexes were all in agreement - he was wondering if those with guns might use them against a sitting President of the U...

How are you? I wanted you to know that you were in my thoughts. Sending love your way. I've spent the last two days living that life.  It was intense in a way that surprises every year.  I relive it the way I relive the births of my children. Each moment has its own texture. Some are rougher than others. ***** I went to a community event in a movie theater on Tuesday night. There was a huge security presence, and many unarmed but well-uniformed officials standing along the walls, but my friend and I sat on the edge of the aisle, just in case.  Just in case of what didn't matter; just in case was enough for me. ***** The videographer remembered me from years past; he told the reporter to put the microphone on my sweater and let me talk. She nodded and complied as he and I exchanged pleasantries. I uttered my three-sentences-to-tell-the-media, disconnected the equipment, and forgot all about it. The movie portion of the evening began with somber music and wintry, fo...

Three years ago today, we left your driveway for the start of a small but wonderful adventure.  We'd shake the hand of a famous and powerful woman, then have lunch and a manicure, do some shopping, and return to my house to play with bubble wrap as we put away my holiday decorations. It was a cool, bright, clear Tucson morning. You didn't need that sweatshirt your mom had you retrieve from the front hall before she'd let you leave with me. I know that because you left it on the front seat of my car, parked in the middle of the lot, within my sight if you needed to run back and get it. I knew enough to keep you safe from errant drivers.  It never crossed my mind that I would need to keep you safe from flying bullets. Since you left us that morning, so much good has been done in your name.  Gymnasiums have been built and refurbished, classrooms and playgrounds have shiny enhancements, children are learning civics and playing sports and your aura surrounds them.  ...

We stood on the concrete where, as Emily said, her son, Gabe, lay for hours. We were surrounded by the media and the survivors and the sheriffs.  There were lots of sheriffs.  We made sure of that before we committed to attend. The sun was shining, the temperatures were in the 70's, we knew the players and the program and our roles.  Americans for Responsible Solutions held a press conference, and everybody came. Colonel Bill spent this morning scanning the crowd for miscreants; he and TBG crossed paths on their circuit at the back of the pack.  Carol made sure we had tissues and stiffened spines.  Pia went over the talking points. Roxanna and I sat on the swivel chairs outside the store; our achy hips weren't having any more standing than absolutely necessary.  I'd be speaking, but she'd be right beside me, holding the picture of Christina-as-flower-girl at her uncle's wedding. We were to stand close by the podium as Mark introduced us, five of us, e...

She looked gorgeous.  Her arm brace was off, her hair was styled, her smile was glowing.  Her husband held her hand and guided her through the throng.  My eyes were wet as I watched her swing her leg to walk, turn her head to see.  She's the living embodiment of everything that is wrong with our gun laws today.  She served in Congress with those she brushed by. How can they not be moved to act? She was a Republican before she was a Democrat.  She's a gun owner. She's damaged.  Those are all facts which should make her opinions somewhat more valuable than others.  Somebody should be paying attention. She wrote her own speech, which is much more eloquent than any words I could write, myself. Read it, and weep. Every word was articulated with care and effort.  Her mouth formed each syllable, her tongue got around each dipthong, and the work it took was obvious.  Mark Kelly, astronaut, Navy Commander, husband and friend, stood by he...

She's the feel good story of the day.  I'm honored to be attached to her coattails. "I miss you" was the operant phrase, and for the first time I saw on Rep. Giffords' face just how big a toll this decision was taking.  Saying goodbye is never easy.  Leaving a good job isn't either.  Watching her sit and stand, faux-clapping and looking brave, my heart was heavy. Literally.  I never knew that phrase in such a visceral sense before watching my Congresswoman mount the stairs to the Speaker's chair.  My hip hurt for her as she lugged her unresponsive side up two or three of the biggest highest most torturous steps ever created.  She teetered.... I gasped.... and TBG and I both exhaled "Oh, Mark!" as our brains went immediately to her husband, entrusting the safety of the person he cares most about in the whole wide world to John Boehner and Debbie Wasserman Schulz.  Sometimes you have to have been-there-done-that to know just how anxious eve...

The San Francisco 49'ers lost a heart-breaker Sunday night.  Big Cuter can now attend his conference (in Paris... poor baby) without feeling that he's leaving his team in the lurch.  Personally, I am reveling in the success of a quarterback who actually graduated from college (a semester early) with Deans' List grades.  Smart rules! ***** The Fox Theatre was going to be the venue for Sunday's movies-in-the-afternoon-with-the-girls because I thought that the original 3:10 to Yuma was on the schedule. Turns out that Russel Crowe was going to be on the big screen, not Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. I was looking forward to seeing an old movie in an old theatre and sharing the joy with Elizibeth, my favorite teenager. Instead, we shifted our sights to the local mall and Marky Mark. Am I the only one who remembers the hoopla over his underwear ad in Times Square? http://markyadvertising.tripod.com/ ***** I am now the proud possessor of a Kindle Fire.  Big Cuter ta...

Go ahead. Watch it. Your boss won't mind, I'm sure. Just lean to one side and let her look over your shoulder at those luminous eyes, let him hear that strong and fragile voice.  You'll share a sigh and move on, knowing that you just saw someone do the right thing. In a political environment filled with vitriol and blather, Congresswoman Giffords gives us two minutes of warmth and promise.  Barbed wire never looked this good. If wishing could make it so, this video would be Gabrielle Giffords announcing her return to Congress. If determination and grit and will were enough... if there had been .....if only. Alas, as Gabby says, we can't change it.   In between football and Joe Paterno and Marky Mark at the movies, Amster received a text and an email and JannyLou left me two messages.  The news was traveling like wildfire.  I sat in the dark booth at lunch, eyes pressed to a smartphone, as my Congresswoman said goodbye. She belongs to herself and to...

The woman is a force of nature.  Her persona grows and grows. She is present although she is absent. Gabrielle Giffords was elected to Congress by District #8 here in Southern Arizona and as far as we are concerned she's still our Representative.  When we needed her in Washington she interrupted her therapies and flew in to cast her vote.   No Democrat can declare until Gabby decides not to run in 2012: I am operating under the presumption that Gabby's going to be well enough to run," said Pima County Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Rogers. "I don't think she'll have to run a terribly vigorous campaign. If voters are convinced that she's mentally capable of doing the job, she can run a less vibrant campaign than she has in the past." (Arizona Star,11/13/11) I'm sure that last sentence infuriates the Congresswoman.  I'm sure she's grinding her teeth with those strong facial muscles which she's developed over months of grueling, pain...

I'm feeling blue these days.  My hip is acting like an inflamed joint  according to Marcus the Master Manipulator.  I've been avoiding doing anything that hurt in the gym in an effort to reduce the inflamation.  It doesn't seem to have done much good.  My range of motion is expanding, and that's a good thing.  My strength and stamina and pain are about the same. That's right, pain.  I'd stopped using the word for a while.  The memory of the real pain that I felt in the hospital and those first months at home was still fresh in my mind.  But now, two-thirds of the way through my first year of living with perforations, I'm willing to concede that the sharp, stabbing sensation radiating from my mid-thigh up and down every nerve ending within synaptic distance... it's pain. I'm taking Aleve; cycling off it just makes me hurt more.  Acupuncture has been wonderful in releasing some of the tightness and bunching up  feeling that has de...