Drawing by Uncle Frank, Circa 2002

Dear Max,

Be your own man. Do your own thing and make your own decisions. Be honest to yourself with who you are and be comfortable in knowing who you are.

It is easy to say but hard to do. So many people just cannot do it. They don’t know what being their own person means. They blindly follow what’s happening at school, at work, on social media, on TV and a thousand other places. They unknowingly train themselves to think they’re making their own choices. The reality is they’re not.

Throughout my entire life I stayed true to myself. Some people never understood it, and to them I was crazy. I embraced the crazy. If a cool hairstyle, good music and an open mind is crazy, I don’t want to be sane.

Love,

Daddy