Dear Max,

When you are on the fence, take a chance. The same goes for if your scared, unsure or have failed before.

Chances are, it’s not as much of a chance as you think. 

Love,

Daddy

Dear Max,

As Wright brothers were developing the first airplane, scientific studies were undertaken to show that anything heavier than air wouldn’t fly. Scientists were emphatic. They were certainly proved wrong. 

Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team because he wasn’t good enough. 

Just because something is believed by one or a group of people to be true doesn’t mean they’re correct. And, it doesn’t mean you can’t overcome the opposition. 

It’s up to you to think differently. 

Love,

Dad

Dear Max,

Today Grandma Cheryl gave you a very special teddy bear that she had custom made out of Grandpa Don’s favorite sweater. He wore it all the time in his last years and it was a Christmas present from Mom and me years ago. He’s cute, like the vintage handmade teddy bears from the early to middle 20th century.

It’s so important you know who my dad was, and still is, to me because he had such a large impact on my life, and ultimately yours. Now you have something to cuddle, something to say your prayers before bed with. You have a piece of him with you. 

Grandma Cheryl gave you something very special today. It’s one of a kind, just like Grandpa Don was to me and all of us. Cherish it.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Max, 

Making, honoring and upholding traditions makes things special. It can be as important as a holiday celebration or as small as referring to an inside joke every time you’re in a certain part of town.

When I was younger, it was a tradition to go to classic car shows in the summer with my family, especially my dad. Today I took you to your first summer classic car show with Grandma Diane. We got through the winter with the ultimate if car shows, Autorama, which you went to for the first time last winter with mommy and me. 

Other traditions include going to the Thanksgiving day parade, Black Friday shopping, playing the barn party with my band, taking mom to Schwartz nursery every Memorial Day weekend, and about a thousand other things. 

Traditions make things fun. They give you something to look forward to. They make otherwise normal things special. Make ’em. Love ’em. Share ’em.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Max,

For each thing you choose to do on a daily basis, you consciously choose not to do something else. 

Make the right choice.

Love,

Dad

Dear Max,

Open the windows on your car, in your home and everywhere in between. When I was growing up we had a thing that my dad called 4-60 air – meaning 4 windows down at 60 miles per hour. 

We weren’t focused on staying in for the cold air, whether it was in the car or at home. We spent most of our summers at my Grandma Iva’s house and she didn’t have air conditioning until she was 86. Instead of clamoring to stay inside we found other ways to stay cool like going swimming, laying in the hammock under the big apple tree, playing a ton of different sports and the ever popular garage sale picking! We didn’t stop there, we trash picked, rebuilt and sold bikes for profit on the curb. We fixed lots of things for us, for neighbors and for strangers. We gave directions. We seeked direction.

It brought us together. We all did a lot more together because we were all outside, most all the time. We learned from each other. 

When you open the windows you open doors to opportunity.

Love,

Dad

Dear Max,

If you think you can or can’t do something, you’re right.

Good and bad luck is the consequences of our thoughts and actions. 

Your thoughts drive action and can drive success if you visualize that success. Being successful is not a secret, it’s just that not many people understand how to be successful.

Love,

Dad

PS: This letter was paraphrased from chapter 3 of the book, How To Think Like a Millionaire by Mark Fisher and Marc Allen.

Dear Max,

We’re at a point in the history of the world when more people have a cell phone than have access to fresh water. It’s an epidemic. 

Cell phones are amazing things – I use my iPhone 5s to write these notes to you. However, they can get in the way of real living. At restaurants and everywhere in between, hoards of people stare lifeless into their phones while sitting at the table together. 

When you’re off the clock, it’s okay to go off the grid. You don’t have to check your phone every 5 minutes. Try leaving it in your bedroom and doing something for a few hours. It’s liberating. There is more to life than pixels.

Love,

Dad

Dear Max,

Tonight I sat on my roof with a man who knew my dad for 30 years. His face looked like an old baseball mit worn in with saddle soap. He is a salt-of-the-earth honest man. In under an hour we talked about 1968, Vietnam, women, classic cars, Greece, the world, you, Honey Radio, age, old houses, my dad and perspective.

His perspective stuck with me. He told me that every person on this earth is made of flesh. No matter how beautiful or ugly we are perceived to be we are still made of the same things. Be happy with who you are and what/who you have. It seems so simple to think that we’re all just flesh, especially when we cover ourselves in designer threads. But, simple is a great way to think differently.

When he left he told me, in Field-of-Dreams-like-form, “Look kid, I gotta go. You’re giving me a headache.” I laughed. His simplicity of thought and his classic humor blew my mind. 

I love to seek and gain perspective from the most unexpected places, like a sixty-something roofing contractor. Where will you find perspective?

Love,

Daddy

Dear Max,

Make the most of every day. You’ll never get this exact day, this exact time back. What are you doing with it? Is it worth it? 

Love,

Dad