Worth The Read: Dax Shepherd's Viral Blog Post
Clarity, humor and understanding are not often what we feel after losing a loved one. But like others have shown us before, Dax Shepherd proved that such catharsis is possible. Just before the new year, Shepherd's father passed away at age 62 after battling small cell carcinoma. Shepherd said the disease metastasized "with great speed from his lungs to all corners of his body."
The blog post, modestly titled, "My Father's Horniness," recounts the final days Shepherd shared with his father, whose once animated personality, voracious appetite faded as the cancer gradually consumed him. The personal essay is tactfully crass, lightly self-deprecating, and ultimately moving. Shepherd paints a simply charming portrait of a man whose shameless flirting would at once turn you red in the face, and give you no choice but to smile and flirt back.
My brother and I were routinely embarrassed by him at Big Boy’s, where he would tell female servers they had “nice assets.” We would hide our faces in shame as he flashed his warm, sincere smile. Shockingly, these gals often blushed or said something flirty in return. Now, I don’t think that is a testament to my father’s sex appeal as much as it is an indictment of Big Boy’s monotonous work environment, but regardless, he did manage to get away with murder, and that deserves some recognition. And as hard as it is for my brother and I to accept, he did have a “way with woman.” He did date, and sometimes even marry, women vastly outside of his pay grade (said the pot to the kettle).
Shepherd's reminiscence of his childhood and of the final days he and his dad shared is heartbreaking, and poignant. You can't help but replace Shepherd and his father, David, with yourself and your own dad (or mom). I guarantee when you're not holding back tears, you'll be chuckling. Really, it's a good read.
For those who read the post, two surprises await you, one that I've ruined with the picture above, and another that not even Shepherd saw coming as a nurse helped his father with a bed pan.
