Perspective
“Perspective Larry. Perspective. Get some!” The door slammed and out she went. Larry’s head fell back against the couch. He lay there thinking, wondering how and where it all went wrong. His mind swirled. His thoughts raced back to the first day he met Leigh; a beautiful actor, living in a condo in Hollywood, a chance encounter.
The word perspective continued to echo through his thoughts. He didn’t really understand what it meant.
Morning came quickly. Larry pulled himself from the couch made some coffee and grabbed an icepack from the freezer to relieve his aching neck. “The couch is no place for a thirty something to rest his head.” He thought.
As Larry made his way in to work, he thought about Leigh’s word, perspective. He went to the computer to find out what it meant. “Blocked,” he muttered. The school district’s software blocked almost every site on the web. He walked to Bauer’s room. A fifth grade classroom with simple dictionary texts. He read the word aloud, “Perspective…huh.” He looked over the several definitions of the word. He read the last one aloud, “a point of view…hmm… the relation of events, facts, or ideas. If you keep things in their proper perspective, you won’t worry about what is unimportant.”
“That’s it!” He thought, I need to prioritize, figure out what’s important to me.”
“Yo Larry! What’s up?” Bauer asked, as he strolled into the room.
“Ah, Leigh took off last night.”
“Really, that sucks.”
“I know.” Bauer had a way with stating the obvious. But, he was a good guy and sincerely wanted to help Larry out.
“What can I do to help you, man?”
“I don’t know, Larry replied, I need to gain some perspective.”
“Is that why you’ve got the dictionary?”
“Yeah.”
Through the conversation, Larry decided to take action, win Leigh back, gain some perspective.
The day was slow, a few skinned up knees, a second grade girl with the flu. During this time, Larry worked on his poem. He worked hard. He worked through lunch and afternoon recess. By the time school was out, he had it ready. He went to Bauer’s classroom again and found Bauer and Millsap, as usual, hanging out.
“How’s it going Lar?” Millsap shouted excitedly.
“Not good, man.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Leigh left.”
“Again?”
“Yeah.”
“How’s the poem?” asked Bauer.
“Good.” Larry replied.
“Let’s hear it,” Chimed Millsap.
“Alright, but don’t make fun. I know how you two are.”
“We won’t.”
“Ok. Roses are red… I’ve worked hard on this…”
“Just read it, man.” Bauer frustratingly replied.
“Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I have no perspective without you.”
[Pause]
The room went silent.
“That’s great,” Bauer lied.
“That’s horrible, man!” Millsap exclaimed. “Dude, she left you, because you lack perspective. Not only is that poem weak, but it doesn’t explain perspective. Perspective is complex. It’s more than just a poem. It’s a state of mind.” Millsap had a way of delivering his monologues with grace and motivation. You need to show her perspective, study it, walk in her shoes.”
Millsap’s words were poetic and his speech ran through Larry’s mind as he rode his bike home from Buena Vista Elementary School. “Millsap’s right. Perspective is not about writing a poem. It’s about looking at events through the eyes of someone else; empathizing with their experiences, in this case, Leigh’s. To understand perspective, I have to research it, write about it, study various cultures and their experiences. Then and only then, will Leigh believe me and trust me.”
Larry researched perspective, went to museums, wrote stories with the unique perspectives of individuals, sang songs (well, he sang songs but that didn’t really have much to do with perspective, although it could have), volunteered his time at homeless shelters and food banks. During these three weeks, he phoned Leigh and they spoke short, but polite conversations.
At the end of the third week, he met Leigh for dinner. They spoke about her time at her mom’s place. The conversation was serious and Larry was nervous. “Had I really learned enough about perspective to win back the Leigh’s heart?” He thought, “Time would tell.”
The main course was complete and Larry felt this was the time. He spoke from his heart. He explained to Leigh his new found understanding of perspective. She looked at him with those eyes, those lovely eyes. He talked of his adventures. The story he wrote, the trips to the food bank and homeless shelter, the history lessons, the museum walks with the curator who spoke of the indigenous people’s plight, their perspective.
He even cried a little, as he spoke about when he had ignored her perspective. The experiences that made her the person she is today. The woman he fell in love with seven years ago. How, he had lost sight of her dreams.
Leigh wept. They skipped dessert. They walked along Hollywood Boulevard. They looked at the stars. Leigh said, “Someday, I’ll have a star.”
“Yes you will, Hun! Yes, you will!” They kissed under the neon lights. It was then and there that Larry truly understood Leigh’s perspective. He realized that there was more to life than just being an elementary school nurse. Although, this was his life’s passion, he could now see that there were so many people in this world and every one had their own perspective, their own experiences, their own dreams. He hoped every person in the world would someday have this realization.
