Finding a Voice

By Linda Grupp Boutin

Have you heard the story of Gabby Giffords? Talk about a person celebrating her voice and making the most of a tough situation...

I have watched many politicians in my life. One of my first memories, certainly of a political nature, was the assassination of my president, John F. Kennedy. In just the third grade, for the first time the principal called us onto the playground for an announcement. The president had been shot and we didn't know if he would survive. He did not and many days were lost to mourning his death, ending up with the state funeral where we saw his son, John-John, salute his father's coffin on the way to Arlington National Cemetery.

For me, I learned at this young age that using your voice, as JFK had, can be hazardous. Not everyone will agree with you. Some might even break the law in trying to silence you. Still his famous words ring loudly in my ears, "My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." It does not matter what your political affiliations might be, this is the sentiment our Founding Fathers adopted when overthrowing the shackles of being held as a British colony.

So what does all this have to do with Celebrating Your Voice? Gabby Giffords believes in the United States. On January 8, 2011, she held a "Congress on the Corner" meeting in a grocery store parking lot for her Arizona constituents. She represented them in the U.S. House of Representatives. During this event a gunman opened fire wounding her in the head, hitting 19 people with gunfire, and killing 6. 

Although her condition was grave, she kept amazing all around her as she rallied from this wound. There are many physical problems a politician can work around. Many have served in Congress from wheelchairs, with artificial limbs, through cancer and a host of other challenges. But the one thing a politician cannot function without is a voice. They convince, cajole and consent with their words. Yet Gabby had taken that bullet to the area of the brain affecting speech.

Some demanded that because of her absence and grave injuries that she resign her post in Congress. But as the months passed her condition improved and by eight months later she appeared on the floor of the House to cast a vote. She has since resigned her seat, but has received much encouragement from others in Congress facing the same hazard she faced that Saturday morning from a gunman. To express your voice in the United States can be dangerous to your health.

Despite the trouble she has saying a simple sentence, Gabby with her husband Mark Kelly, former Space Shuttle astronaut, are leading the way in the fight against assault weapons. It was such a weapon that wounded her and took the lives of 6 others that Saturday morning near Tucson. When you hear Gabby speak, the effort required of her to put those words together is only overshadowed by the obvious strength of spirit and belief she courageously displays. She exemplifies what we all must do to make a difference in this world. She considers a problem, takes a stand to try and correct it, and uses her voice to convince us of the justice of her cause.

Many people try to define heroes as sports figures who achieve amazing feats or famous singers, actors and actresses who dazzle us with their performances, but what is it that we truly value in our heroes. For me, Gabby Giffords sums it up. She has taken adversity in her life and turned it to the good. You can agree or disagree with her political positions, but you can take nothing from the unvarnished courage she displays when advocating with a broken, but undefeated voice that she celebrates.

Thanks to Wikipedia for helping me fact-check my memory! http://en.wikipedia.org