Day 56: What the Congresswoman and the Astronaut Taught Me

Tonight I watched the ABC News special interview with Congresswoman Gaby Giffords' husband. I didn't want to watch it, mainly because they decided to call it the "The Congresswoman and the Astronaut: An American Story of Love and Strength." Why is ABC trying so hard to take away my sympathy for this tragic couple? What is this, some animated Disney feature follow-up to Beauty and the Beast? I get what they are trying to do, but why manufacture drama when this story has enough tragic circumstances and demonstrations of love without the helping hand from the ABC News producers. 


I get that because he's an astronaut we are automatically supposed to feel something more significant for them. This isn't just some average Joe or MBA, this is a American hero! Screw you ABC, I do not need Mark Kelly to be more than just a loving and concerned husband to make me feel for them and want to hear what he has to say. And what's with the "American" love story part? Because we wouldn't feel sympathy for them if they weren't American? Or is it more that Americans think they have the market cornered on romance and happy endings? Other cultures have fairy tales ending with mythical Prince's on white horses rescuing the always in trouble and dependent damsel too. 


The whole PR campaign for this interview made it about a magical love story and great American tale of love, etc. What makes them any more magical than the rest of us? Have any of you that have been married walked down the aisle and looked into your partner's eyes only to think, "Eh, well it's not the worst I could have done"? Do we not all start out and believe that we are living a magical love story? And who's to say we're not? Just because we also have bills to pay, kids to raise, dishes to do, trash to take out and not always mind blowing sex to alternately initiate and submit to does not mean it is still not a fairy tale. 


Fairy tales have the luxury of ending at the moment both parties realize their love and ultimate happiness resides in being together. Those characters never have to live up to the challenges of a partner farting in bed or morning breath or discovering that you can't get the damn juvederm you feel you desperately need in those nasolabial folds, because that cash is earmarked for something practical. In any case, fairy tales only exist in well, fairy tales. The rest of us live out our magical love stories amid all the messiness of life and I'm sure Gaby Gifford and Mark Kelly would say the same thing. That they love one another is not in doubt. That they have a special bond and magical connection unique to them is expected. What they also have, is a real marriage with all its complications and logistical issues of being together, working, prioritizing, etc. 


Their story captured the hearts of Americans because of the tragic circumstances that brought them to the public consciousness. By isolating them and sending the message that they somehow have the storybook romance uncommon to the rest of us, ABC is doing them and us, a disservice. I listened to Mark Kelly say how hard this is for him, but that he has a time table for her, that she is a fighter, that he knows she recognizes him as her husband, because he knows her habits and her expressions. He is not a character out of a fairy tale, he's a man in love with his wife and all he knows is to be by her side and to fight for her. He is just like the rest of us and that is the message I am taking away. 


This is not an American story. It is not a notable story because of their occupations. It is a story of a husband and wife who are confronting a horrific situation the best way they can and with all the love, patience, and strength they can muster. They are us and we are them. No nationality, no race, no religion, and no occupation is necessary to recognize the human spirit and love embodied in this story. So shame on you ABC for over-dramatizing the purest and most raw of emotions and stories likely to play out on the public stage.