37: Welcome to Adopting Weirdness
Hello everyone,
I know, I know, you might be asking yourself, “where the ef did this name come from?” Well, I’m adopted, and over the nearly sixty years that I have survived and at times thrived on this planet, I have always created a wall of weirdness as a defense mechanism.
True, other people have suffered far worse than I have. True, my adopted parents, Neil and Fran Lepow built Franel Optical Supply over fifty years to become the one-stop shop for the global eyecare industry. Their original idea was to of course one day pass their business to the next generation. That being my older brother and me.
That never happened. For a number of reasons, but in their ruthless, cut-throat authoritarian eyes, we were never going to be ready to take over the business. I had already built a successful career in photography, but the thought of a steady paycheck, with benefits, was enticing (newly married and my bride and I already had plans for a family).
My well-placed mistrust in Neil and Fran’s never turning the keys to Franel over to us is precisely the reason I chose a photography career. With my Nikons, I managed to figure out a way to make a living travelling the world, covering events I wanted to experience.
So, via Adopting Weirdness, I will continue to share with you the stories that I wish to share. Happy or tragic, as well as fun stuff like music, movies, and my adventures while traveling. Believe me, I have barely scratched my list of topics to write about.
My ultimate goal remains the same: to have this somehow edited into a book. Because if I can help a single person realize that here is what I was dealt in life, and I managed to make it this far, so maybe you can understand that, while no, life isn’t a place where dreams always come true, but instead to be experienced on your own terms.
On a serious note, this is also a race against time. I am in late-stage four kidney failure and honestly fear going on dialysis due to what I have seen it do to other people I was close to. At best, it will prolong my death by three years. So I know, I need to start tapping out many more chapters.
Adopt your weirdness, I sure as hell have.
Thank you for coming along for the ride. I appreciate you.
Mark