The Hug

I was commissioned to do this for a young man who relied on his uncle for support because his own dad had died when he was just a baby. He wrote me a letter that I used as inspiration for this piece. I've got permission to share part of what he wrote (some of which is going to be in an upcoming article this year):"My dad was in a car wreck when I was very little so, obviously, he wasn't around when I was growing up. So, my uncle, who had 3 kids of his own, stepped up and took me under his wing. I didn't realize until much later how impactful it was for me to have a positive male role model in my life - especially during my teenage years. Uncle Joe was the oldest of five boys (my dad was his youngest brother) and he had grown up without a father too - his grandfather (my great grandfather) was a surrogate father to him. So, he knew what I was going to go through.When I turned twelve, I began acting out - I thought the world owed me something. I remember when Uncle Joe showed up at my sc