Anyone can love when it's easy, but who can love a girl who was slowly dying? For Anthony Rizzo it wasn't too hard. For he knew that she wasn't a cancer patient, she was a dreamer. He had it in his heart that he can not only help this girl get bette...
I walk into a James Allen ring store that was just outside of Chicago. I have never been in a place like this before, besides getting my mom a bracelet for Christmas I've never even bought jewelry before. So being here by myself trying to find a engagement ring is turning out to be a real task. I don't know what I'm looking for or how to chose a ring. There's got to be hundreds of them in here and they're all so different. I have no idea what she would like or what what to do with it once I got it.
I talked to Maliyah's Dad the other day when he Family was over and finally asked for her hand. I was pretty scared, to say the least. I don't think he doesn't like me or that he didn't want me to marry his daughter. It was just asking him that scared me. So I pulled him away from the chaos happening inside the apartment and asked him straight up if it was okay if I married his daughter. He asked me a few questions like how I plan on treating her and making sure that I don't put baseball before her. But I assured him that she is bigger than any problem or other love in my life. Nothing comes before her and I wanted to make her the happiest woman alive. So he gave me his blessings and wished her and I the best of luck with the rest of our lives.
But we were about to leave for New York for the worlds volleyball tournament and I didn't want to wait too long before finding a ring. I would rather to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. This way when I figure out a time and place to purpose I can do it.
So now all I have to do is find the right ring, which was easier said than done.
"Hello sir, how can I help you" a guy in a all black suit asks and I let out a sigh.
"I'm here for a engagement ring but I have no idea what I'm looking for" I admit.
"Don't worry, we get this a lot" he assures me and I nod. That did make me feel a little bit better.
"So how does this work" I wonder.
"We usually try to narrow it down, figure out what she doesn't like, then from there we can figure it out" he says and I nod. Alright, that sounds simple enough.
We start to look around at the rings and narrow it down. I know she doesn't want anything big and heavy because she was a active girl and wouldn't want it getting in the way. But she loves reminders that she loves hard so I want her to be able to catch it out the corner of her eye and smile because she thinks of me. I wanted it to be more traditional because her dad insisted that she would like that.
"Alright. Since we've kinda gotten a feel for what we are looking for, why don't you tell me about your girlfriend. What is she like, what do you love about her" he wonders.
"I can't explain her... she's unlike anything that you can try to capture with words. I mean, she's just so incredible.
She makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world. Even on our first day together she shared her heart with me. She told me about her dreams of flying free and she wanted me there with her. It's things like that that make me so happy to be able to call her mine. And while she's mine she's a woman of her own, so strong and brave. She inspires me every day.
I really want the ring has to sparkle like her eyes. They're one of a kind and produce their own type of light. I've never seen a pair of eyes like hers, they're simply incredible. And it has to be as unique as she is, one of a kind. There's no other ring like it even if you made one.
I know she won't care about how big the diamond is or how much I spend on the ring, she wants it to mean something like those great moments we spend together" I explain.
"Can I see a picture of you guys" the man wonders and I nod. I pull my phone out and show him my lock screen. It was a picture of Maliyah and I on stage at the John Legend concert, easily one of the best nights of my life.
He smiles big when he looks at the picture before softly chuckling.
"I knew you looked familiar" he admits and I laugh with him.
"Surprise" I tease.
"Well from the sounds and looks of it you got the right girl. Now we just need to find the right ring, so let's take a look at some I think you would be interested in" he insists.
I follow him to the middle of the store and we look through the one of a kind rings they had. There was a few I liked, but none I loved. That is until I see this one that was perfect for her.
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"Tell me about that one" I beg.
"That one? That's our cloud ring" he says and I smile big.
"A cloud" I ask.
"Yeah. It's really light and people says that it reminds them of a cloud because you can look at it from different angels and it looks like it changes. A lot of people look at this one but I haven't seen anyone buy it yet" he admits.
"There's a first time for everything" I insist.
I end up buying the cloud ring in what I hoped was the right size. She always wore her moms old rings and I asked her dad what size that was and I hope it all works out.
I start to drive back home and now I had to figure out just how I was going to purpose. I had the perfect ring and the perfect girl and I needed to find the perfect way to put the two together.
I look out the window and see a hot air balloon flying through the sky and I smile. I think about that special day. Bring so high up in the clouds with my girl and I couldn't help but smile.
And that's when it hits me. That was the perfect way to do it. We can recreate one of our greatest memories and make our new favorite one. We can have our families there and it can be the best moment of our lives.
