As Matteo Risi lets us inside Max Gurney’s home, it’s impossible not to notice the walls first. They are lined with photographs retracing each chapter of his 104 years.
At Max’s age, he’s lived a life most of us could only dream of; he traveled the world, taking on a number of positions with Pan American World Airways for 5 decades.
“I traveled with Pan Am more than anybody else there," Gurney says.
He’s a World War II veteran, serving in the Signal Intelligence Service, and fought in the Battle of Sicily and he’s even lived long enough to watch the rise of women in society.
“Pan Am introduced the stewardess as a symbol of the importance of women in the world," Gurney says. "In my life, my mother was so important, I thought all women were just as important.”
And with more than a century on earth, he carries a quiet wisdom shaped by choosing joy.
“I like to put aside all the bad sides and just see the good ones,” Gurney says.
But today, the people who love him most say Max needs something he’s never been great at asking for: help.
"All his achievements wouldn't matter as much if it wasn't for the fact that he's such a kind person," his friend Matteo says. They met when Max joined the Torrey Pines Rotary Club.
“I've never heard him criticize or say anything bad about anybody else, ever," Matteo says.
He adds that kindness now deserves to be met with care; “He's in very good health. He has no chronic conditions perse, but he's 104 and he's frail.”
Max has taken a few recent falls, and without a nighttime caretaker, his friends worry; "We don't want to tempt fate in that direction," Matteo says.
So they set up a GoFundMe hoping to raise eight thousand dollars to bring in nighttime home-health aides.
Max may not know what a GoFundMe, but the donations are adding up and dozens of people have contributed.
"he hope is that uh Max can live safely and comfortably here where he's been for 30 years," Matteo says.
If you’d like to help contribute to Max's GoFundMe, click here.
