He reflected on his own adolescence, adding that he never had friends with Down syndrome when he was a teenager, which shed light on the isolation often experienced by this community.
Fortunately, Max has the support and love of his sisters, Billie Grace and Kate, who have become his primary social circle. On the other side, the actor expressed that in the future, the hard truth is that friendships for Max will rarely happen innately.
“You have to generate friendship, and that’s a really hard one to swallow because you certainly can’t force a teenager to be your son’s friend, nor would you want to,” reiterated, the hands-on father, John McGinley.
Despite the challenges, there were moments of profound joy and significant milestones that reshaped John’s perspective. He looked back on a casual day at the beach in Malibu, which brought an unexpected breakthrough.
Max, who often enjoyed throwing a tennis ball for the dogs, suddenly threw the ball to his father. What followed was a simple game of catch, but it was a significant moment for the actor because he realized that he was playing catch with his son.
It symbolized a connection he had long thought impossible. “That ball toss helped me understand that all the things I had surrendered hope of ever doing with my son were still attainable; they were just waiting for the right time,” John said.
This was not the only moment of pride the father had witnessed. He got to see Max grow up to be healthy. While he was in third grade, he was proud to see him develop impressive reading and math skills. But outside of school, Max enjoyed jumping on the trampoline and swimming.
Although the “Scrubs” star has faced many challenges in fatherhood, he credits his son for dramatically reshaping his understanding of life’s deeper values.
He explained, “I had no idea what love was until I met Max. I didn’t know what compassion was; I had no idea what patience was. Max is the glue that holds this family together. He adores his two sisters. He’s the glue. Everything we do is better when we’re a team when we’re all together and we’re doing it.”
Max has not only brought many lessons and growth into the actor’s life but also brought him his wife, Nichole McGinley. The couple met on a beach in Malibu while John was playing a game of fetch with his dogs.
His son played the pivotal role of approaching the yoga teacher. John humorously recounted the moment, saying, “Max went over to this hot blonde behind me, and I was just aghast. I was like, ‘Max, you get the dogs. I’ll talk to the hot blondes.’ And so we switched.” From there, the rest was history.
