6a0133f30ae399970b01a73e165a78970d

I remember when my dad shaved the beard he had worn for my entire life. It was life-altering and devastating. And I was about 25-years-old at the time. It was night and I remember a strange man walking up to our house through the darkness. My sister and I were standing in the doorway and we both started screaming thinking it was an intruder.

Then we realized it was our dad and screamed even louder.

It took us both about two days before we could even look at him. The lower part of his face looked babyish and pale. Like it hadn’t been exposed to the sun in over thirty years. (It hadn’t.) It made our father look vulnerable for the first time.

It took a long time to accept our beard-free father and learn to love him again.

So I TOTALLY understand why this two-year-old freaks the fuck out when her dad shaves his beard too.

Solidarity, kid. Solidarity.

A word to bearded dads thinking about shaving it off: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE EMOTIONAL DEVASTATION!