Space travel has become so commonplace, that the media barely mentions a scheduled space shuttle takeoff in the news any more.
Last week, NASA announced that Mark Kelly — a veteran of 3 space flights — would be piloting the space shuttle Endeavour on its final flight into outer space.
Immediately after NASA’s announcement, the questions began: why was Kelly leaving his wife, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is in rehab recovering from a head shot, to fly into outer space for two weeks?
Kelly, who was in Houston on Jan. 8 when Giffords was shot, rushed to Tucson, Arizona to be by her side. It wasn’t long before he was in front of the cameras giving daily updates on Giffords’ condition.
Most husbands would have taken a leave of absence from their jobs to care for their wives. But a narcissist puts his needs above all others. It is more important for Mr. Kelly to pilot the final space mission for the shuttle program, than it is to remain by his wife’s side and allow another pilot to get the glory.
As the whispers grew louder, Kelly defended his selfish action, saying that his wife would be “very comfortable” with his decision to fly off into space for two weeks.
He avoided reporters questions about her condition or how he knows she would be comfortable with his choice.
“I know her very well and she would be very comfortable with the decision that I made,” Kelly said tersely.
“The longest amount of time we’ve spent together is probably a couple of weeks at a stretch,” Kelly told the NY Times when the couple wed in 2007. It should be noted that Kelly was still married to his first wife when he met the congresswoman in 2003. He eventually divorced his wife to marry Giffords.
Kelly predicted that Giffords, 40, will be at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on April 19 for shuttle Endeavour’s liftoff.
“I have every intention that she’ll be there for the launch. I’ve talked to her doctors about that,” he said confidently.
Between now and then, Kelly, 46, will be kept busy working long hours in preparation for the space flight. There will be limited time to spend with his wife, who can breathe on her own although she still has a breathing tube down her throat.
Doctors plan to plug Giffords’ breathing tube so she can speak. But probably not before Kelly joins the other astronauts in quarantine a week before the launch.
I’m indifferent to their situation cause if that’s how their marriage works, who am I to say different.
Sandra from what I have read that people who know this couple have said is that She would tell him to go . I also read that her doctors said that returning to life as normal as possible during Rehab helps a patient. And for this couple who have been married three years it is normal for them to spend days even weeks apart because of their two jobs. So I am sure that this was not an easy decision but one that he came to with the help of his fmaily her family doctors and her (if possible since her current condition is not reported on extensivley we dont know that she didnt agree). So I would not be so quick to judge him because for 1 you do not know what it feels like ot be in her shoes or his and you do not know the dynamics of that family.
And your assumption that most husbands would take a leave of abscnese is not a fact I am sure that it depends on the family, the income and many other things. If anybody knows what is best for this woman it would be her husband her doctors and her family and her not us the public.
Mr. Gifford can kick rocks! Sandra please give me something better to read this morning
Hasn’t he been there for her since day 1???
Let this man live and he SHOULD know his wife better than anyone else so if he says his wife will be cool with it then who are we to doubt that.
People should really stay out of other’s relationships. From the outside looking in you don’t have a clue what’s going on. All you can do is make assumptions.
do you know what a narcissist is sandra? funny how you call everybody that! most peoples husbands are not piloting a space ship. also, as your are obviously aware, this is the historic and LAST trip to space for the current space shuttle program. i imagine that he has his wife’s full support and if she wanted him to stay and miss this historic launch he would! stop hating sandra! NEW POST!
Space flight is hardly commonplace. This woman and her husband are overacheivers. She’d bust him upside his head the first chance she got if he flaked out on this mission. And ain’t no man gonna take no extended leave of absence to care for his wife who is racking up medical bills so high they will likely be passed on to their great grandchildren.
two weeks, SR? she won’t even miss him.
5 proberson07 says:
do you know what a narcissist is sandra? funny how you call everybody that! most peoples husbands are not piloting a space ship. also, as your are obviously aware, this is the historic and LAST trip to space for the current space shuttle program.
~~~~~~~~
Sandra could of had more fun w/this post. Wasn’t it our President who pulled the plug on the space shuttle program? LOL.
I don’t know why this story creeps me out.
Gotta agree with you on this one, Sandra. When I read that he had decided to go on this last historical shuttle, I immediately thought, “How damn selfish!”. His wife is struggling, and he’ll be off studying satellites, planets, and chit. Not sure if he’s a narcassit, but I do not believe his priorities are in order. Too frequently wives and moms are left alone to struggle with various obstacles while Daddy and Hubby carry on with careers. She needs his support — as did the rich mom who murdered her two teenagers while Dad was overseas carrying out his career.
@Byrd, you forgot congress gets free healthcare.
In other news, Sandra I don’t think he is narcissistic. He and his wife are trying to return to some form of normalcy.
EducatorMomfromMS says:
Gotta agree with you on this one, Sandra. When I read that he had decided to go on this last historical shuttle, I immediately thought, “How damn selfish!”. His wife is struggling, and he’ll be off studying satellites, planets, and chit. Not sure if he’s a narcassit, but I do not believe his priorities are in order. Too frequently wives and moms are left alone to struggle with various obstacles while Daddy and Hubby carry on with careers. She needs his support — as did the rich mom who murdered her two teenagers while Dad was overseas carrying out his career.
~~~~~
He has support to go from both sides of the family. This chance will never happen again. His wife is doing better than expected. As a married person you support your spouses dream/career. I agree w/Bird “She’d bust him upside his head the first chance she got if he flaked out on this mission”.
ryand91 says:
@Bird, you forgot congress gets free healthcare.
*************************************
I didn’t. I was speaking to the fact that Sandra said most husbands would leave work to take care of their ailing wife. That is not true because is most cases they can’t afford to do that.
@Byrd, True, my bad.
If I’ve been shot in the head, damn a last mission. My hubby better not even leave me to run to Walmart.
Sandra Mae, you have four “buzz words” that you like to use to describe EVERYbody on your blog and they don’t necessarily apply where you assign them.
1) Hawt
2) Gay
3) Narcissist
4) Troubled
Clearly this man has a relationship with his wife and knows her better than anyone else. She could very well BE the type of woman to say, “Baby, go back to work, this is the VERY last mission and I know it would break your heart to not be able to go… there is nothing you can do here except sit next to the bed and read a magazine… I’ll be OK, and I’ll be here when you get back.”
Maybe instead of HIM being a narcissist, he has a SUPPORTIVE wife who wouldn’t WANT him to forgoe this opportunity. Relationships are like that.
Hypothetically: If my wife loved her job and I KNEW she loved her job and she was going to have an opportunity to do her dream interview with the President of the United States… if I got shot on Friday and that interview was scheduled for that Sunday, she would know me well enough to know that I would want her to get her a$$ up and do that interview because “support” doesn’t always mean sitting next to me at the hospital.
But that’s just me.
‘narcissist’ is Sandra’s favorite word. You have labeled so many people that that it no longer has any meaning.
It’s funny that you brought up this story because I asked my black female(she and I are the only blacks in the office) this question yesterday.
She told me that if she were Gifford she would go and if her husband had been in Gifford’s condition she would ride off into space.
I have a problem with him leaving her for two weeks even though she is supposedly making great progress toward a full recovery. I can’t imagine how he would feel is she had a major setback while he was in space or worse if she died. But since these two don’t even live in the same state I am not really surprised by his decision.
LOL. I think it’s interesting that the opinions on this topic vary depending upon gender.
Most WOMEN would probably sit next to their husbands and not leave, most men would sit for a while, but for the most part, as men who have been conditioned to eventually take care of business no matter what.
Broke leg, you better gotta get your a$$ out there to take out the trash.
Broke arm… you better steer that truck with your knees, but you’re going to deliver those supplies on your job because you have a family to feed.
A lot of women are supportive of their husband’s dreams, but the man has been off work for a month, he knows his wife…
What happens if she takes a turn for the worse while he’s “up in space”? Will they turn the shuttle around and bring him back home to be by her side? No! Something could go wrong while he’s away.
Wow, I am sure that he is not a narcissist. He knows his wife; I’m sure that she has been supportive of his being an astronaut from the begininng and I am more then positive that he knows what she wants. Plus, we don’t know WHAT indications that she has given to him that he needs to do this.
Sandra has a wheel of narcissists. She spins the wheel and when it lands on their name they are the narcissist of the week. Sometimes it lands on the right name, but this time it’s wrong.
EducatorMomfromMS says:
What happens if she takes a turn for the worse while he’s “up in space”? Will they turn the shuttle around and bring him back home to be by her side? No! Something could go wrong while he’s away.
~~~~~~~~~
We are not guaranteed anything. Remember the Challanger, last month was the 25th Annivesary of the “Disaster”. This is not Mark’s first time going up in space, don’t think that his wife was not worried about him and his career choice. We could get killed walking out our front door, what’s wrong w/living “your” dreams. Yes, something could go wrong w/his wife in those two weeks. It’s been a month and she has only improved, I think he should take a chance and pilot the mission.
What if he’s on his way to the hospital and gets hit by the taco, cracklin’ and scratch off truck??
Forreal? I don’t live my life on “what if’s”, I live mine with a belief in God and HIS system doesn’t always align with my wants OR needs, so I have to take what he gives me and TRY not to question it.
I never understood a need to be at the hospital when someone passes anyway (and again, this could be one of those man things) what difference is it going to make if I’m there at the precise moment you die? Will my presence direct your spirit to the upper room in the event I see it going in the opposite direction?
Honestly, I don’t WANT to see you die, I don’t even want to be in the vacinity. I want to remember you the way you were. I’ve been to a few funerals in the past 5 years or so, and I haven’t really cried.
Carrington says: Most WOMEN would probably sit next to their husbands and not leave.
****************************************
not me; i ain’t no damn doctor. now if she was on a ventilator or something and could die at any minute; it’s important to be there to make decisions and get your last looks and feels. but this lady is in rehab and giving him back rubs. not the same situation.
@ lovinme
EducatorMomfromMS says:
If I’ve been shot in the head, damn a last mission. My hubby better not even leave me to run to Walmart.
________________________________________________________________
So then would that make you a narcissist? (In Sandra eyes) just asking because those that disagree with him are saying he is selfish, but then wouldnt one be selfish to say you better not go anywhere?
Like I said before none of us know what he should do in his case besides him his wife and his family and her doctors. And I agree with whoever sais eh would bust him upside his head if he didnt go.
Carrington says:
Sandra Mae, you have four “buzz words” that you like to use to describe EVERYbody on your blog and they don’t necessarily apply where you assign them.
1) Hawt
2) Gay
3) Narcissist
4) Troubled
Clearly this man has a relationship with his wife and knows her better than anyone else. She could very well BE the type of woman to say, “Baby, go back to work, this is the VERY last mission and I know it would break your heart to not be able to go… there is nothing you can do here except sit next to the bed and read a magazine… I’ll be OK, and I’ll be here when you get back.”
Maybe instead of HIM being a narcissist, he has a SUPPORTIVE wife who wouldn’t WANT him to forgoe this opportunity. Relationships are like that.
Hypothetically: If my wife loved her job and I KNEW she loved her job and she was going to have an opportunity to do her dream interview with the President of the United States… if I got shot on Friday and that interview was scheduled for that Sunday, she would know me well enough to know that I would want her to get her a$$ up and do that interview because “support” doesn’t always mean sitting next to me at the hospital.
But that’s just me.
__________________________________________________________________
Amen!
EducatorMomfromMS says:
Gotta agree with you on this one, Sandra. When I read that he had decided to go on this last historical shuttle, I immediately thought, “How damn selfish!”. His wife is struggling, and he’ll be off studying satellites, planets, and chit. Not sure if he’s a narcassit, but I do not believe his priorities are in order. Too frequently wives and moms are left alone to struggle with various obstacles while Daddy and Hubby carry on with careers. She needs his support — as did the rich mom who murdered her two teenagers while Dad was overseas carrying out his career.
____________________
He is extremely selfish to go on this flight. Particularly since he’s flown on board a space shuttle 3 times already! Why not give someone else a shot?
Bird says:
And ain’t no man gonna take no extended leave of absence to care for his wife who is racking up medical bills so high they will likely be passed on to their great grandchildren.
____________________
She’s a congresswoman, which means all of her medical bills are being paid for by you and me – not him.
Anna says:
This chance will never happen again. His wife is doing better than expected.
__________________
He flew on the space shuttle 3 times already. But I guess those other 3 times don’t count. Let’s hope she doesn’t take a turn for the worse while he’s off in space on his power trip.
Sandra Rose says:
____________________
She’s a congresswoman, which means all of her medical bills are being paid for by you and me – not him.
_______________________________________________________
Well if you want to be technical he pays taxes so they are covered by him as well and the rest of his and her family thats pays taxes as well… Im just saying….