Richard DeFino is from the Kingsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. The Bronx showed him that the outcome of any situation can be beautiful, no matter how ugly it started off. Also, adaption to your surroundings is essential for survival and he was influenced by all of the survivors that he met over the years, whether they were family or friends, good or bad. We all survived. If he needed to ditch school because anxiety was crushing him, there were countless neighborhoods with plenty of friends to sit on a stoop and share a beer and a laugh with. The Bronx is far too big to get lost inside your head.