Gabrielle Giffords and Kelly Mark love story: Here's how 'email' friendship led to wedding ring with personal text
Former astronaut and junior United States senator Mark Kelly created history by becoming the second Democrat senator to serve Arizona in more than six decades. He was sworn into the Senate on Wednesday, November 2. Kelly was accompanied by his wife and former congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords, along with the current Arizona senator Krysten Sinema, who is also a Democrat. His oath in the Senate chamber was administered by vice-president Mike Pence before the Bible in the Old Seate Champer.
While, the swearing-in also saw the presence of Kelly’s twin brother Scott Kelly, who said watching his brother take the oath was “a little surreal”, what caught the attention of some was the support extended to Kelly by his beloved wife Giffords. On watching them arrive together for the event, one social media user shared a tweet, talking about Giffords’s wedding ring, which allegedly has Kelly’s words, "you're the closest to heaven that I've ever been" engraved inside of it.
This is a good time to remind folks that Senator Kelly wrote "you're the closest to heaven that I've ever been" inside Rep. Gabby Giffords wedding ring and its one of the most romantic things ever cause he's an astronaut. https://t.co/chOXQJG4aG
— Daniel (@DailyLibber) December 2, 2020
Did you find Kelly’s gesture super romantic? Well, their love story will warm your heart up!
They did not hit off immediately…
Kelly and Giffords’s love story took off on a rather practical note. They first met each other in China as young leaders selected by the National Committee on US-China Relations, when she was an Arizona state senator and was reportedly seeing someone else at the time. Meanwhile, Kelly was married to Amelia Babis.
However, they got to know each other only a year later when through a group meeting in Arizona. They skipped the aerial tour of the Grand Canyon and went on a hike with each other. What did they talk about you ask? Giffords said once that they talked about their lives and “how really hard it can be to be single”. “I had dated some big players, but they weren’t really nice men, and I was a little gun-shy. Mark talked about his love for his two daughters, about sharing custody.” As they spoke, Ms Giffords wondered if this conversation was the start of something more,” she added further.
How Kelly and Giffords’s long-distance friendship turned into romance
Even though the meeting in Arizona brought Kelly and Giffords closer and she sensed that they were headed towards something “more” than friendship, they kept in touch with each other only via email and phone calls. Reportedly, Giffords gave him tips about dating other women.
In 2004, after breaking with her then-boyfriend, Gifford arranged for an unusual get-together with Kelly. She said, “I invited him to join me on a tour of the Arizona State Prison in Florence. I’d been working on legislation dealing with capital punishment. Mark is the son of police officers — well, he just really wanted to sit in ‘the chair.’” Meanwhile, he felt “she had it all. Beautiful, smart, hard-working, balanced, fun to be with, and she laughed at my jokes.”
The random catch-up soon blossomed into romance as the duo started attending each other political campaigns and space shuttle launches. What brings them together? In Giddords words, “When our relationship just kept getting deeper, I felt a huge sense of relief. I had found someone like me. We’re both really curious. We’re focused on the same things.”
The couple got engaged in 2006 and got married in 2007 at an organic produce farm in Amado, which was officiated by Rabbi Stephanie Aaron.