Together At Last

Touchdown: Mark Kelly & Gabrielle Giffords to reunite in Houston and become asame-city couple

Mark Kelly holds wife Gabrielle Giffords' hand at TIRR Memorial Hermann.
Gabrielle Giffords and Mark Kelly
Space Shuttle Endeavour

Astronaut Mark Kelly and Rep. Gabrielle Giffords spoke every night on the phone during the 16-day Space Shuttle Endeavour mission that ended on Wednesday. The courageous couple will be reunited in Houston on Thursday evening.

Before the May 16 space shuttle launch, the duo shared a heartfelt goodbye, including a swim in the Atlantic beside the NASA beach house. In space, Kelly and his five-man crew awoke to Giffords' chosen wake-up song, U2's "Beautiful Day." A symbol of the couple's enduring love, Kelly wore her wedding ring on a chain around his neck during the shuttle flight while Giffords wore Kelly's wedding ring in Houston.

Kelly's eagerness to revisit his wife was evident at a Wednesday post-flight press conference at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., reports USA Today. During that meeting, the astronaut announced, "I really miss her and can't wait to get back there tomorrow to see her." He also revealed that he had just emailed Gifford's mother, requesting to be informed when Gabrielle would be available to talk on the phone.

While Kelly was orbiting the planet, the Arizona congresswoman was at Houston's TIRR Memorial Hermann undergoing cranioplasty surgery to repair the part of her skulls that physicians had withdrawn five months ago to allow room for the swelling of her maimed brain. Doctors report that the surgery was successful, but the risk of infection precluded Giffords from traveling to Florida for touchdown.

Throughout the course of their time dating and being married, the couple has diligently navigated the long distance between their fast-paced careers. But with Giffords in recovery, Kelly's mission to the International Space Station complete and the sunset looming on the NASA space shuttle program, a prolonged reunion is in sight.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”