The Return Of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

At eight o'clock this morning, supporters of Ron Barber, Democratic candidate in the special election (to be held tomorrow) to fill the seat vacated by Giffords in January, received an email saying that he and a SPECIAL GUEST would be arriving at the Green Valley Democratic Headquarters in two hours.

(For the backstory on Congresswoman Giffords go back to this blip and the day after, two of my first.)

We all knew that Gabby had arrived in town the night before for a concert in support of Barber, so it didn't take a genius to figure out who the special guest was going to be.

When I arrived, there were crews from two Tucson television stations and about twenty volunteers anxiously waiting. Sure enough, it was Giffords and Mark Kelly, her astronaut husband who accompanied Barber. Barber and Kelly spoke to the small crowd.

All the while, Gabby pumped her hand in the air, scrunched her face up when Ron's opponent was mentioned and was generally humorous, joyful and inspiring.

She doesn't speak in public yet because her speech has not fully recovered from her brain injury and her right arm is in a brace.

When Mark was done speaking, you could hear a pin drop. The television crews had asked us not to get out of our seats. We were frozen, mesmerized, and didn't know what to do.

Gabby began to walk down the narrow space between the tables acknowledging each person. When she got to me, I held her hand, looked into her eyes and asked her if she remembered who I was.

She said, "Laurie." I told her I missed her and she smiled.