The face of hope

The staff of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has posted on her Facebook page the first images of her since that horrific shooting in January.  They include the picture below.

AP Photo/southwestphotobank.com, P.K. Weis

Details:

The photos were taken on May 17 by photojournalist P.K. Weis of SouthwestPhotoBank.com, a longtime photographer for the now-defunct Tucson Citizen who has known Giffords for more than a decade.

Weis snapped the pictures at the Houston rehabilitation center where Giffords is being treated, the day before she was scheduled to undergo a cranioplasty to repair part of her skull that was removed because of brain swelling. The photo session occurred the day after the launch of Endeavour shuttle, which carried her husband, Mark Kelly, into space.

“Any photographer in the country would have loved the opportunity to take these pictures and I was delighted to be asked,” Weis said in a statement.

“It was very inspiring to see how much she had recovered in 4 1/2 months,” he added. “I was excited to see her and to see her smile. She was glad to see me, was in a good mood, smiling and laughing and seemed to enjoy the experience. I certainly did too.”

You can read more here.

Meantime, I know that she remains in many prayers.