When the Stars Align (Anthony Rizzo)

22| All About Perspective

Anthony

"And here it is" Kelsey announces as she opens the door. We go inside her new little office and I smile big. It was all painted to look like a partially cloudy day here in Chicago. Not something you would expect to see in a office but considering who were talking about here it's less surprising. The top of the skyline was around the bottom of the walls and the beautiful blue that were in her eyes filled the rest of the walls with a few clouds. I smile big as I looked around because this was so... Kelsey. And that's why it was so beautiful.

"This is so amazing. Did you do this" I wonder and she laughs.

"It was my idea, but I'm no artist. I found someone who owed me a favor and she did this for me" she insists.

"Well I think it's awesome, what else do you have in here" I wonder.

"If you look here I got some pictures up. Here's me and my mom in here when I was a kid and she was showing me something called a "space rock." To me it was the coolest thing ever when I was a kid, being able to hold that thing was the highlight of my life. But it had to be taken away for experimental reasons and we just never got it back.

Then there's a picture of your family and mine at your birthday party this year. Of course this was taken before Isaiah dropped his piece of the cake down the front of him. Then there's a picture of you and me all dressed up at the laugh off for cancer event. It's actually one of my favorite pictures of us" she explains.

"And look, you even brought your moon light" I tease as I turn it on and she giggles.

"Yeah, I figured it made sense since it was a gift for my ten year anniversary and so was the promotion" she shrugs.

"You got a nice little set up here. Your mom would be so proud" I assure her and she smiles real big.

"I didn't come in here a lot when she was alive because my mom wasn't in here much, but what few memories I have of this place still stands tall. This was home base for her and I hope I can keep the tradition of making this place happy" she insists.

"I think you've done more than make this a happy place, you're making the people who come better too" I assure her.

"That's the dream" she smiles.

After I get the tour of her new gig we head to the planetarium. She was doing her first show as head boss and I wanted to be here for it. But I know her family is important to her too so I get them all to come out and see it with me. We find some seats together, sit back, and listen to the master at work.

"When we look to our sky, the sun is the brightest star. It radiates energy and heat and so much more to make our land habitable. If we go a planet closer to it, it's too hot, and if we go a planet away, it's too cold. But right here the sun does exactly what we need it to do.

But what would you say if I told you that the sun isn't the brightest star in our galaxy or that there are many others like it. In fact there's 600,000 other known stars that are brighter than the sun. So you might ask yourself, why is this the one star that is obviously the most bright?

Because like most things in life, it's all about perspective. What appears closest will have the most effects on us. It's like being from a small town and coming here to Chicago. It might be the biggest city you know, when there are other cities in this country that's are bigger. But if all we see is this one we will always believe that Chicago is the biggest.

Now perspective can trick you, if I ask you has many stars are in this galaxy most would say thousands, maybe tens of thousands because that's all we see. That's all the naked eye could ever know. But if we take a step back and see what there is and not what we see we know there's 200 to 400 billion stars in our little galaxy. We just have to be brave enough to take a second and put things in perspective to see things as they truly are" she explains.

"Woah, who knew my sister is so cool" Tatiana whispers and I laugh.

"Guilty" I admit.

"I can't lie, I thought she just did all this lame star stuff because mom did. But I think there's more to this than I realized. She's really got the hang of it all" she says.

"She's got more than that. I think she's the smartest person ever" I insist and she laughs.

"Well, love is blind" she teases and I smile.

"She's at least the smartest person I've ever known" I say.

"Yeah, me too" Tatiana smiles.

Eventually the show ends and she gets a round of applause from her viewers. She gives the kids a sticker as the kiddos leave and we stay back to hang out. She doesn't have to be on door duty anymore so she could talk before we all had to get to where we're needed.

"Are you coming to the game tonight" I ask her.

"I will happily come watch you play tonight" she smiles and all those stars we just looked at seemed a bit dimmer.

"Awesome. Then after maybe you can come over and we can watch a movie" I suggest.

"I'm gonna have to start keeping clothes at your place if this keeps up" she claims and I nervous laugh.

"I mean, I would love that. I have some space in my room you can keep your things and you're more than welcomed to anything in my place" I tell her. She raises her eyebrows at me as she tries to read the situation.

"What's your game Anthony" she asks and I smile.

"No game. We're both old enough to hold our own, but I sleep better with you by my side. I love making breakfast with you and knowing that I am the luckiest man alive because I got you" I say.

"Alright. I'll pack a bag then I'll have my brother drop me off at the game so I can come home with you" she agrees and I couldn't help but smile.

"You don't have to come over if you don't want to" I try.

"You know I do" she insists.