a letter to my friends on my 26th birthday

I’m probably one of the worst storytellers I know. Ask me to tell a real-life story sometime and you’ll quickly see that I suck at it. There are always too many details. The pacing is weird, the language isn’t right, and by the end you laugh politely because how could someone suck so bad at telling something true. I know it’s crazy, but it’s also why I’m writing this letter out instead of performing it in a one act play entitled, “Reasons Joe Galbo Doesn’t Put a Gun in His Mouth: And other Hilarious Tales”. Lol, that was a little dark, but I digress.

It’s almost impossible for me to describe how much I love each and every one of you who take the time out of your day to be a part of my life. And I don’t just mean the very close few of you who get drunk with me on weekends or know what my bedroom looks like. I mean everyone. Everyone who looks at the crap I constantly post on Facebook, everyone who reads my Tweets, everyone who takes the time out of their day to answer my lame emails about video ideas, or career advice, or trivial bullshit. You people keep me on the ground. You keep my days interesting and my whole existence centered. Truly, you’re remarkable.

Of course, in every group of remarkable people there are some stand outs. After all, there is only one person who has to constantly endure me and for her I am the most thankful. I’m not always my best self. To be with someone who accepts that and is willing to stick around, well, it’s the stuff dreams are made of.

Also, I must thank my parents for giving me more advantages than I deserved, my brother for reminding me what it means to have the courage of your convictions, and my sister for remaining as sweet as she has for as long as she has. Along with them are my aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family who made me feel alive while I was growing up.

I remind myself daily that at some point I am going to die. That might sound weird to a lot of you since I don’t walk around with a sense of doom and gloom or reckless abandon. I mean, I try to keep it real, even if I don’t always succeed. Never the less, I feel my own mortality with every passing second. It’s exhausting sometimes. There is always something important to do, and if I’m not doing something important in this world then I’m wasting every advantage that’s been handed to me. But that’s not the point.

The point is the reason I don’t walk around with a bad attitude about dying is because I live a life filled with people who give a damn. Every day is a life-affirming experience. Every day is just as breathtaking as the time I climbed a mountain in New Mexico or the nights I spent camping out under the starts in the Australian desert. Without you that wouldn’t be possible. Thank you for giving me that feeling of awe and wonder every moment of my waking life. For the guy who feels the loss of every hour of every minute of every day you people are the most important thing in the world. I am so proud and so thankful to know you.