As the next stage in her recovery, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, soon-to-be retired astronaut Mark Kelly, will be writing their memoirs.
The memoir, currently untitled and set to be published by Scribner, will chronicle Giffords' and Kelly’s relationship, detailing their independent careers in politics and space travel. The couple, who married in 2007, spent much of their time apart while Gifford worked in Tuscon and Kelly in Houston.
It will include the Jan. 8 incident where the Arizona congresswoman was shot in the head during a political event in Tucson, Arizona.
"After thinking about it, and talking about it, we decided it was the right thing to do to put our words and our voices on paper and tell our story from our point of view," Kelly told the Associated Press.
Kelly recently announced his retirement from the Navy and NASA, which he admits is partly inspired by a desire to be with Giffords. He wrote on Facebook, "Gabrielle is working hard every day on her mission of recovery. I want to be by her side."
He will officially leave NASA on Oct.1.
Giffords was released from a Houston hospital last week, and will start outpatient therapy from home, where a live-in nurse will help her re-learn how to speak and walk.
Kelly will be the primary collaborator on the memoir, with the help of author Jeffrey Zaslow, who will conduct interviews of family and friends. His previous work on Randy Pausch's "The Last Lecture" and Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger's "Highest Duty," received wide critical acclaim.
A percentage of the book’s profits will be donated to a variety of Arizona charities, the AP said.
