Gabby G.

I'm often asked in job interviews, classes, and regular conversation who is my role model? Who is a public figure I look up to. And every time, without fail, I freeze and have to think on it. I'm not sure who I would choose (in the public figure category, that is. If I had the choice my mother would be my answer for every question ever asked about any subject, ever.) But, that indecisiveness stops here. Today.

My last blog was about my confusion about yet another tragic act of hatred in Boston on Monday. I felt drained and empty because yet again this year we have the impossible question of 'why do bad things happen to good people?' Over the past few days I've read article after article from celebrities to politicians claiming that there is still hope, that we will rise above this.

And then I saw this article.

I've known about Gabrielle Giffords for a few years, ever since she herself was a victim in a heinous crime against good fucking people. She was shot, point blank, in the head, and not only survived, but continues to live. I've followed her story, her journey through recovery. I've read about how her husband, who is a mother loving astronaut..... has helped Gabby (can I call her that?) recovery fully to the point where they climbed the Alps. No big deal. I'm a sucker for a love story, which is probably why I continued to look up Giffords every few months.

When I saw this article, I was blown away by the courage this woman has. I hope I one day can have this bravery and resilience for the right thing to do.

I've said it once, I've said it a million times... I'm not political. At all. But I'm human. And I'm sad these things keep happening. I don't know what causes a person to put a slow cooker in a building and start the timer of a bomb. I don't know why people buy guns to solve their problems at home. I don't know.

I do know, and I have held onto this knowledge in the past week, that there are people in this world that make it a better place. Plain and simple. There are people in my life that are the reason the sky lights up. It's that simple. And there are public figures, people who's name is known to many, who have decided that there name is not just in lights. Their name creates talk about important issues. That's what Gabby Giffords did with this article. And I'm listening.

So, I now know that whenever I'm asked who is my role model, who is someone in the public eye that I think is not only groovy, but puts out a whole heap of good into this world. My answer is Gabrielle Giffords. Hands down, without a doubt, over the fence World Series kind of stuff.

Cheers to Gabby. Cheers to the good in this world. Cheers to you.