When I was 18 my grandfather was put on hospice care.

I was in college about two hours away. 

So I would take the train out and visit with him as often as I could during those final few months.

One day it snowed. The first snow of the winter. I took a photo of it and came in the house to show him. 

He was laying in his hospital bed staring out the window. 

“Illinois… the armpit of the nation” he said.

I could tell he was reflecting on his life and regretting many of his choices. 

Layer that night he grabbed me by the arm and said… 

“you know Hodl, out there are a couple of guys on a beach somewhere with pretty girls sitting in their laps… and the only difference between us and them is that they have balls.” 

I never forgot it. The message was clear. 

I’m old and dying. It’s too late for me, but not for you kid. Be a goddamn man in this life. Have some balls.

A few years later I put everything I had  into bitcoin.