Giffords and husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly
In a new memoir, Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope, Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords personally vows to return to Congress once she regains strength.
The book was written by Giffords’ husband, Mark Kelly, but Giffords wrote the last chapter, a single page of short sentences entitled “Gabby’s Voice.”
“I will get stronger. I will return,” Giffords wrote. In August, she stunned colleagues by appearing on the U.S. House floor in Washington on Aug. 1 to vote for the debt ceiling deal, but she has focused most of her time on her recovery at TIRR Memorial Hermann, a rehabilitation center in Houston.
(PHOTOS: Gabrielle Giffords Appears in House to Vote on Debt Limit Bill)
The Associated Press purchased an advance copy of the book. It is set for release on Nov. 15.
In addition to Giffords’ personal promise to return to Capitol Hill, the book includes details of her months of intense therapy and her emotional battle to come to terms with what happened when a gunman opened fire in front of a Tucson grocery store. It is the most personal and detailed look yet at Giffords’ struggle over the past 10 months to relearn how to walk and talk, and her painful discovery that 12 others were wounded and six killed during the Jan. 8 attack.
The book also describes lighter moments, like when a specialist showed her various politicians to see if she recognized people. When she saw former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, she said: “Messin’ around. Babies.” The book reveals that because of her injuries, Giffords has lost 50% of her vision in both eyes.
Kelly also divulged that the couple was quietly trying to have a baby. Giffords had undergone several rounds of fertility treatments in the last few years and was hoping to be pregnant early in 2011.
PHOTOS: Scenes from Tucson in Grief