Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson puts his body on display all the time, but this is one of the first times we’ve ever seen him bare his soul like this.
On Wednesday the Jumanji star lost his father, wrestling legend Rocky Johnson. The “Soulman” died suddenly at the age of 75, and it’s clear The Rock was not prepared for the loss.
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In his first public statement, the grieving son says:
“Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side.”
The Rock posted a throwback video of his father in the ring, and a teen Dwayne looking on with pride. And he packed everything into a freeform poetic caption — history, emotion, growth. He wrote:
“I was the boy sitting in the seats, watching and adoring you, my hero from afar…
The boy you raised with the toughest of love.
The intense work.
The hard hand.”
The hard hand? Wow. It’s a poignant, nuanced goodbye from a man who clearly had a complicated relationship with his dad. Get the tissues ready and read the whole thing (below):
I love you.
You broke color barriers, became a ring legend and trail blazed your way thru this world.
I was the boy sitting in the seats, watching and adoring you, my hero from afar.
The boy you raised to always be proud of our cultures and proud of who and what I am.
The boy you raised with the toughest of love.
The intense work.
The hard hand.
The adoring boy who wanted to know only your best qualities.
Who then grew to become a man realizing you had other deep complex sides that needed to be held and understood.
Son to father.
Man to man.
That’s when my adoration turned to respect.
And my empathy turned to gratitude.
Grateful that you gave me life.
Grateful you gave me life’s invaluable lessons.
Dad, I wish I had one more shot to tell you, I love you, before you crossed over to the other side.
But you were ripped away from me so fast without warning.
Gone in an instant and no coming back.
Im in pain.
But we both know it’s just pain and it’ll pass.
Now I’ll carry your mana and work ethic with me, as it’s time to move on because I have my family to feed and work to accomplish.
Finally, I want you to rest your trailblazing soul, Soulman.
Pain free, regret free, satisfied and at ease.
You lived a very full, very hard, barrier breaking life and left it all in the ring.
I love you dad and I’ll always be your proud and grateful son.
Go rest high.
#ripsoulman #rockyjohnson ?
See the emotional vid (below):
[Image via WENN/Instar/The Rock/Instagram.]
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