It has been little more than two years since former Rep. Gabby Giffords suffered a critical head wound in a mass shooting at an Arizona supermarket. In the time since then, Giffords’ has been an absolute inspiration to millions of people facing adversity. Her relationship with her devoted husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, has also demonstrated what true love looks like. Now, a set of photos in the March edition of Vogue gives a sense of just how deep their connection is.
“Just watching them, you’re struck by how easily they work as a unit,” writes John Powers for Vogue. “When Giffords walks, Kelly is there holding her arm to steady her. When they sit, he touches her reassuringly, and the two constantly exchange confiding glances.”
Powers observed that Giffords and Kelly have some way of communicating telepathically. Because of her aphasia, which makes it difficult to place words with thoughts, Giffords often turns to Kelly for help.
“As she struggles with a sentence, he completes it for her and she nods that he’s gotten it right,” Powers writes, adding that Kelly is doting, patient and calm.
Although the would-be-assassination slowed her motor skills, Giffords is still very sharp. She is also determined and, after stepping down from Congress in 2012, she has turned her attention to gun control with her husband’s full support.
“We didn’t want to be doing this,” Kelly said. “There are lots of things we’d rather have done. But sometimes you don’t get a choice. Gabby is ‘OK, this happened to me. I want it to count for something.’ ”
Last night, Giffords and Kelly were present among dozens of others affected by gun violence at the State of the Union address. She shook her hands in support as President Obama exclaimed about potential gun control laws, “Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.”
Earlier this year, on the anniversary of the shooting that wounded Giffords and killed six, Giffords and Kelly announced the creation of Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS). This lobbying organization is intended to counterbalance the National Rifle Association (NRA), which opposes the vast majority of gun control proposals.
All photos from the March 2013 edition of Vogue.
