Little Stewart, and perspective

Stewart is a young boy from a small town. He regularly gets B's and B+'s except for science, where he excels way beyond the classroom average. Science has always been his passion; and space has been his Muse. He would regularly push his 9 o'clock bedtime just to catch a few more looks into the starry sky with the telescope his parents bought him for his 10th birthday. His bright blue eyes would sparkle at the mention of going to the planetarium two towns over. Every other week, when he saved his allowance up diligently, he would run down to a local variety store to buy just a few more glow in the dark stars. He wanted to put every one up on his ceiling until he had completed all the constellations he knew; which was all of them. His voice would bubble over with excitement as he sat on his father's shoulders, getting the star on the ceiling exactly right, and then tell his dad all about the constellation he just finished putting up.

There was a slightly unseasonable chill in the air on this particular September night. Stewart sat there, unable to do much else but enjoy the view of the stars; not that he would even think of doing anything else on a clear night. He could only see a handful of them, but knew enough that he was looking at the Big Dipper. He smiled, running through all the things he had learned about that constellation. He bowed his head and clasped his small fingers together on his lap as he sat there.

"Dear Lord, thank you for this view. Thank you for these stars that you made and for letting me enjoy them like this."

Stewart looked down at his watch and pushed the light button to see what time it was. It was only three in the afternoon. He stared at his watch intently, slowly losing the smile he had been wearing. He quickly looked around at everything the small light had illuminated. The light shut off suddenly. His mind rose back to the stars above him, and his smile returned.

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Perspective is an interesting thing. I'm not talking about a viewing angle of something, or how you were standing when you were watching something or anything like that. I'm talking about perspective in life. Perspective changes how you perceive everything that either happens to you or everything you have.

I recently had the pleasure of going down to Long Island NY, where I grew up, to visit my family and my uncle on his 70th birthday. (I'm only 23 by the way, and Happy Birthday Uncle David!) So anyway, I woke up way, way too early on Friday morning, and made my two hour trek down to Connecticut where I caught an early ferry to long island. Let me just say that going from a small town in Massachusetts (or even Connecticut for that matter) to "The Hamptons" on eastern Long Island, is a HUGE difference, and I'm even used to the Hamptons during the summer. Everything is more expensive. You will see the newest and best of cars that are on the market. The nicest and most chic fashion boutiques line the 4 street town of Southampton. You will see "success" everywhere around you. (By the way, I drive a 98 Mazda and I'm not anywhere near rich...yet) During my first day, we went out on a boat that my uncle borrowed from a guy he knew. We went for a cruise around the bays and anchored in a serene lagoon area where we had a quiet dinner of chicken and various salads, while laughing and talking and just having a wonderful time. Saturday consisted of waking up around 10, playing 9 holes of golf, and then driving to my uncle's house to have dinner with everyone, which again proved to be a more than eventful and amusing evening. At 9:30 at night, I was lying in a hammock, 50 feet from the water, watching fireworks light up the slightly cloudy sky. Sunday morning, I sang at my church, which is quickly becoming a tradition, (It was an arrangement of 'Just As I Am') and then went to lunch with the organist, who by the way, is an amazing pianist and organist. I left there and drove to a friend's house to see his very cute 2 year old son (who was splashing in the backyard pool naked. Perfect time for blackmail pictures) Not much later, my parents and I drove to dinner, where we sat out on a balcony over, actually over the water and sipped wine while enjoying a wonderful dinner. That was my weekend in a nutshell. (Anyone see Austin Powers? C’mon, the nutshell joke thing. “How did I get into this nutshell? Anyone?)

Periodically, during the boat ride, the golf round, the dinner, the fireworks, and the riverside dining, I would mention how lucky we were, or that this is what life is all about. Coming from the Hamptons, and being surrounded by material success, can almost brainwash you a little into thinking that this is what life is about: $200,000 cars and 100 foot yachts with a guy who's job is to clean the huge chrome letters of the ship's name, seriously. This is not the first time I've had this "epiphany", I just felt compelled to share this particular one with all of you; all 4 of you :-) How many times do we complain about something, without being thankful to have something to complain about? (I'll give you a second to read that sentence again, seriously, read it again) I complain, to myself, all the time about this annoying rattle in my car. But how many people have a reliable car that they outright own to even complain about? I complain sometimes when a website takes longer than 3.8 seconds to load on my cable internet at home and at work. How luck I am to have it, not only a computer that's relatively decent, but the assets to have a cable connection. I'm lucky to have a decent paying job to go to everyday. There are thousands of things that we could be thankful for, but we too often take them for granted and complain about these gifts and things we have. I'm not saying we shouldn't strive for more. By all means, you should try to obtain what you want, and pursue happiness in a decent an honest way. The best of luck to you my friend. Just don't forget, to be thankful for what you have.

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Stewart continued to wait for the stars to pass by his view so he could look at some new ones. Hours went by before he could finally see some new stars. He lit up when he recognized the constellation he had just put up on his ceiling while sitting on his dad's shoulders. He mentioned to himself that it was named from Greek mythology, and kept himself occupied with his imagination. He bowed his head again and thanked God for the wonderful stars, and the even more wonderful view.

Two days later, the rescue team found Stewart, cold, hungry, thirsty, but still smiling. He had spent his time at the bottom of the well just a few hundred yards from his house in the field that had been abandoned for several years. His father, embracing him tightly, laid his son into bed that night. Stewart’s mother sat on the edge of the bed, just glad to lay eyes on her beloved child again. His father looked at his son, trying to keep his eyes from tearing over.

"Dad, I saw Aries, the one we just put up on my ceiling. It was so beautiful and bright without any other lights coming in." His cleaned up face glowed like the watch in the well.

His father smiled with immense joy. He leaned over and softly kissed his son's forehead and gently stroked his soft brown hair. He got up as Stewart’s mother leaned over to kiss him too. They walked to the doorway and flipped off the light. The stars on the ceiling glowed brightly in the now dark room, and his father looked up to see the constellation he had just helped put up.

"Goodnight Stewart." They closed the door and went to bed.

Stewart turned over on his stomach, closed his eyes, folded his hands, and bowed his head under the stars above.

Goodnight All,
The D.

(By the way, don't write me any comments about it being 3 in the afternoon, so he wouldn't be able to see the stars. At the bottom of an average well, the angle of the light is such that it never reaches the bottom, so you can see the stars virtually all day. Only when the sun is DIRECTLY over the well can you see the light. So there. :-P )