Letter From Brandon Elwood

A few days ago I found myself scrolling through Facebook and saw a random article about someone just plain being awesome. To my absolute delight I saw my old main may The Scary Guy comment on the page pretty much the same thing I was thinking…made total sense.

What really made me smile is that I have not seen this man’s face in 20+ years! I first met Mr. Guy when I was in elementary school in Omaha, NE (I am 36 now). The Scary Guy was really the first person I met or even seen that had that many mods to their body and our school invited him to talk. I was certainly taken back, but that was short-lived. Scary started talking to us and I remember feeling so at ease…only a kind gentle soul could have made that kind of impact.

The big lesson I learned that day is how to see past how anyone looks and give them a chance to show you their whole self. Talking with him after the big presentation to the school, getting to see that his name really was The Scary Guy on his license, and feeling the tension drain from my shoulders listening to him talk to me still makes me smile. I was given a gift that day…it is hard to explain, but the best way I can put it is that I feel like I can see right through people and search for the good. The biggest impact that happened beyond that is that I get to pass this gift along to my kids and students all the time. Scary Guy’s talk 20+ years ago stuck with me my whole life, and I am honored to pass along his message of understanding for as long as I can. It really has made all the difference for me.