The youngest victim of the mass shooting in Arizona was remembered at her funeral for her love of baseball, animals and swimming with her brother.
The congresswoman, believed to be the target of an assassination attempt, continued to make remarkable progress, doctors said.
Christina Taylor Green’s funeral on Thursday was the first for the six victims killed when a gunman opened fire on a crowd at an event for Representative Gabrielle Giffords, injuring the congresswoman, wounding 12 others and shocking the country. The nine-year-old girl was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and featured in a book called Faces of Hope that chronicled one baby from each state born on the day terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people.
Green had an interest in politics and had recently been elected to her student council. She was the only girl on her Canyon del Oro Little League baseball team and played second base, and had told her father she wanted to become the first woman to play in the major leagues.
The game was in her blood. Her dad is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and her grandfather, former big league pitcher Dallas Green, managed the 1980 world champion Philadelphia Phillies, as well as the New York Yankees and Mets.
“She wanted to make a difference in her life,” Bishop Gerald Kicanas said. “She wanted to make her mark.”
Christina’s father John Green spoke to the tearful crowd, including his 11-year-old son Dallas who wiped tears away with the sleeve of his suit.
“Christina Taylor Green,” he began, “I can’t tell you how much we all miss you.”
“I think you have affected the whole country,” he said, according to the Arizona Daily Star.
Meanwhile, doctors said Giffords continued making strong progress toward recovery.
Giffords, 40, is moving both legs and both arms, has opened both eyes and is responding to friends and family, doctors said on Thursday.
They’ve helped her sit up and dangle her legs from the bed, and she is able to lift her legs on command.
With her closest friends from Congress holding her hand on Wednesday evening, Giffords opened her left eye and tried to focus on loved ones for the first time.
“It was raw courage. It was raw strength. It was so beautiful and so moving,” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York said of the Arizona legislator. “She wanted us to know that she was with us a hundred percent and understood everything we were saying.”
Giffords’ neurosurgeon, Dr Michael Lemole, called it “a major milestone,” and said the congresswoman was clearly responding to the gathering of friends and family.
After five days of pushing for caution, Lemole acknowledged: “We’re wise to acknowledge miracles.”
The updated medical reports came a day after US President Barack Obama traveled to Tucson and appealed for unity at a memorial service for those attacked in the Arizona shooting rampage, and he implored a divided US to honor them by becoming a better country.
While some have blamed the US’ overheated political climate and the use of violent imagery in campaigns, Obama said that there was no way to know what set off Saturday’s shooting rampage that left six people dead, 13 wounded and the nation shaken.
He tried instead to leave indelible memories of the people who were gunned down and to rally the country to use the moment as a reflection on the US’ behavior and compassion.
“I believe we can be better,” Obama said to a capacity crowd at the University of Arizona basketball arena — and to countless others watching across the US. “Those who died here, those who saved lives here — they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us.”
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