Published Thursday, 21 March 2013
The Parenthood star's father, Dave Robert Shepard Sr., passed away last December from lung cancer and the actor was devastated not to be by his side during his final moments.
Shepard received the news of his father's diagnosis at the same time he discovered his fiancee, actress Kristen Bell, was pregnant with their first child, and he struggled to deal with his mixed emotions.
He writes: "I was acting full time on a TV show based in LA when I got the call... On my days off from the TV show I was travelling around the country promoting a movie I had directed... Compounding all of this was the recent and incredibly fortuitous news that my wife and I were pregnant with our first baby. Whoever was writing my life couldn't figure out which storyline they wanted to tell, and decided to tell them all at once."
Shepard goes on to recall the final adventures he shared with his dad as they took long car rides and visited the homes they lived in back in his native Michigan.
The funnyman also reveals that Bell once flew in from L.A. so Shepard's dad could spend time with his unborn grandchild.
Sharing a sweet snapshot of the moment, he recalls: "Unbeknownst to both of us, (Bell) walked into the room. She had flown in from LA without any warning. It was a surprise. She lifted her shirt up and he put his hand on her swollen stomach. He left it there for the better part of an hour. He wasn't going to make it to the birth, but that didn't get in the way of him meeting the new baby. If I live to be a thousand, I will still be in debt to (Bell) for giving him that one last thrill."
Bell took to her Twitter to comment on the blog post, writing: "Perfect example of (why I) fell in love (with) him. A beautiful account of hilarity & tragedy by the incomparable Dax Shepard."
Shepard's tribute to his father on Wednesday marked his first official blog post.