Second Chance (Anthony Rizzo)

(39) Drops of Jupiter

Anthony

As October draws to a close and baseball was in the back of our minds we get started on Jessie's list of things she wants to do. A few things we've done before but a lot of these things were new which was exciting. Now I get to try new things and I get to do it with her by my side.

Today we were going to stay in because the weather was cold and rainy and we didn't feel like going out. The damp weather tends to give Jess headaches so I wanted to keep her dry and warm. So I'm going to go back to the roots of our relationship and teach her everything I know about the piano. Which isn't much.

"This piano sounds amazing" Jess says from besides me as I just mess around to warm up.

"You know, you bought us this piano" I tell her as she gasps.

"Seriously" she asks.

"Yeah. You had just moved in and it was Christmas in 2013. You had to have your dad come help you get it up here and that was something to watch. But we got it in here and we spent many hours sitting behind the keys. At the time I didn't think anything of it, but now I see it's the little things like this that made up the best parts of my life. And I'll never forget it again" I promise her.

"We had some great times huh" she asks and I chuckle.

"That we did, but I honestly believe that it can be better than that. It has been already" I assure her.

She picks a song to learn and I smile big, I love this song. So I teach her the keys so it'll make picking the song up a little easier. Once she had that down I teach her the keys as I sang the lyrics along with her.

"Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's a time to change, hey, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey

But tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated?

Tell me, did you fall for a shooting star–
One without a permanent scar?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?"

Her eyes stay glued on the piano as she follows along closely. She was such a avid learner it's hard to believe she had a stroke. Her cognitive thinking was untouched and her ability to remember new things didn't seem effected at all.

As I sing along I realize that this was her in a lot of ways. And not just the way she admires the stars every chance she gets, but the way she came back from the atmosphere with bits and pieces of what she was looking for even though she never found what she needed. Everything she wanted to see she never saw, because it was right under her nose the whole time. The whole "did you miss me while I was looking for herself out there" hit really close to home. Because I missed her more than anything when she was looking for herself and I don't know what I would do if I had to go through it again.

"Now that she's back from that soul vacation
Tracing her way through the constellation, hey, hey, hey (mmm)
She checks out Mozart while she does tae-bo
Reminds me that there's room to grow, hey, hey, hey (yeah)

Now that she's back in the atmosphere
I'm afraid that she might think of me as plain ol' Jane
Told a story about a man who was too afraid to fly so he never did land

But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back to the Milky Way?

And tell me, did Venus blow your mind?
Was it everything you wanted to find?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?

Can you imagine no love, pride, deep-fried chicken?
Your best friend always sticking up for you even when I know you're wrong
Can you imagine no first dance, freeze dried romance, five-hour phone conversation?
The best soy latte that you ever had and me

But tell me, did the wind sweep you off your feet?
Did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day
And head back toward the Milky Way?

And tell me, did you sail across the sun?
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated?

And tell me, did you fall for a shooting star
One without a permanent scar?
And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself?

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na

And did you finally get the chance to dance along the light of day?
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
And did you fall for a shooting star, fall for a shooting star?
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
And now you're lonely looking for yourself out there."

We slowly stop playing as I get lost in her big blue eyes. Music has always been a way to connect, when we don't know what to say we find lyrics to say it for us. And this song in particular has always been one of my favorites though I've never realized how much of it applies to this situation. How I had to let her use all that space, from earth to Mars and Mars to Jupiter to find herself even if that wasn't really possible. I still had to let her go and see for herself what she thinks of the world. It sucked for the both of us but in the end she found that everything she was looking for wasn't out there but right here.

"Thank you" I all she says and I smile.

"For what" I wonder.

"For teaching me piano, for teaching me about music, for teaching me about love and life" she claims.

"You knew this stuff baby, I'm just reminding you" I insist.

"Well thank you for reminding me"she says.