After reading the advice from this group....and God bless you all for it....I did exactly what you all suggested. I took her to a gun show yesterday here in town and let her pick up tons of handguns to see how they felt in her hand, etc.
She very quickly settled on the newest Glock 30, a small .45 that fit her hand perfectly. While a bit large for a typical concealed carry weapon, it was such a perfect fit that I bought it for her on the spot. Add a nifty Glock heavy nylon carrying bag for weapons/ammo/accessories and a slick little outside black leather holster that will keep the Glock very close to her body....and a couple hundred rounds of ammo....she was good to go.
Not to mention thrilled to death. No, she didn’t get to open it on Christmas morning but she was so happy and smiling ear to ear it didn’t matter. She’s beyond thrilled.
Thank you all so very much for your great advice on this. God bless you and have a very Merry Christmas.