 | | The avatar used by BlogHer Ashley Burroughs |
Hi everyone, You may remember my email of Jan. 9, when we learned that BlogHer "Ashleigh Burroughs" (not her real name) had been shot alongside Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Az.). Six people died that day in Tucson, including one nine-year-old. Burroughs and Giffords were among 13 wounded survivors. Hundreds of you wrote to both women, encouraging them on to recovery. Yesterday was a happy day: Rep. Giffords was well enough to leave the hospital to live at home. In honor of the occasion, Ashleigh Burroughs is back, with words of advice, encouragement and pain for the congresswoman. Burroughs was shot three times and spent 11 days in the hospital: "I can still smell it - that first breath of air in my driveway as I balanced on one leg and took in the mountains and the front door and everything in between. I'd been hospitalized for 11 days, inhaling and exhaling the air of injury and pain and medication through long days and sleepless nights. It felt like I'd never been anywhere else. "Then the car door opened and I was home, and I stood there, inhaling and exhaling the dry desert and the blue sky and the fact that I was there, alive..." More I've been lurking on Ashleigh's blog, the Burrow , since the shooting. Her daughter broke my heart with her plea for healing vibes, so I sent along a love note with everyone else. Then Ashleigh came home and typed Shot At Tucson: Healing Through Typing. Please go read this post -- I think it's is one of the 100 best blog posts on why we blog, capturing in one paragraph the transformative, soul-saving, heart-swelling power of online community to do good--far better than the now zillions of books on the topic have ever done, in my opinion. Burroughs wrote: "It's a funny thing, writing a personal blog which suddenly becomes intensely introspective and intensely public all at the same time. Without readers, it's a diary. With readers, it's a conversation, an experience shared among equals. "It's the least expensive and most intense therapy I've gotten. "And it seems to be working the best. "So, from my heart to your eyes, I say: Thank you, denizens. Thank you for helping me to heal." More Next Burroughs blogged Sitting Through Jared Loughner's Competency Hearing, confirming she's a writer. I was achy and sweaty for her by the time I was done reading her post. I don't know how to express it, so I'll just say -- she's no whiner, but this blog is unvarnished, just like her shocking new and evolving body. Her blog is pure inspiration to me. What do you think? Are you as moved by Burroughs and Giffords as I am? Will their experience affect how you vote? How you think? I'd love to know...please join us here?  | | Ashleigh Burroughs after the shooting |
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