Shepard Family PhotoBy Brody Levesque (Washington DC) Sept 8 | I spent a good portion of my free time over this past Labour Day holiday reading Judy Shepard's newly released book, The Meaning of Matthew. I strongly urge anyone reading this article to go out and purchase a copy.
Without a doubt, speaking as a parent myself, this was the most emotionally crippling story that I have ever read. The brutally honest, yet simple and unpretentious manner in which Mrs. Shepard profiles her oldest son, and her perspectives on his homicide and its aftermath, will leave you stunned. This is definitely one of those stories that should never have had to have been written, as no one with a shred of humanity and decency would have wished to see this kind of horror visited upon a normal American family like Dennis & Judy Shepard's.
The real heartache in this book is the way that Judy writes about Matt; She makes it a point to transform the publicly held view of Matthew Shepard, from the poster child for victims of Gay bashing, into the private Matt Shepard, a beloved son who had his own issues he was struggling with at the time of his murder. The blemished, imperfect, questioning, and angst filled kid trying to make his way in the world. This is not the portrait of a martyr, nor a hero, or even an angel, rather its an honest 'warts & all' loving biographical sketch by a mother who misses her eldest boy.
The Shepard's found themselves caught up in a nightmarish situation that countless families have suffered through. But they did not allow themselves to become victims, instead they became crusaders to erase hatred, letting the example of their private anguish and loss become a driving force in the efforts to end the very thing that killed their son and brother.
This book's theme is clear and quoting Matt's Dad, Dennis Shepard,
" I didn't have a Gay son. I had a son who happened to be Gay."
Without a doubt, speaking as a parent myself, this was the most emotionally crippling story that I have ever read. The brutally honest, yet simple and unpretentious manner in which Mrs. Shepard profiles her oldest son, and her perspectives on his homicide and its aftermath, will leave you stunned. This is definitely one of those stories that should never have had to have been written, as no one with a shred of humanity and decency would have wished to see this kind of horror visited upon a normal American family like Dennis & Judy Shepard's.
The real heartache in this book is the way that Judy writes about Matt; She makes it a point to transform the publicly held view of Matthew Shepard, from the poster child for victims of Gay bashing, into the private Matt Shepard, a beloved son who had his own issues he was struggling with at the time of his murder. The blemished, imperfect, questioning, and angst filled kid trying to make his way in the world. This is not the portrait of a martyr, nor a hero, or even an angel, rather its an honest 'warts & all' loving biographical sketch by a mother who misses her eldest boy.
The Shepard's found themselves caught up in a nightmarish situation that countless families have suffered through. But they did not allow themselves to become victims, instead they became crusaders to erase hatred, letting the example of their private anguish and loss become a driving force in the efforts to end the very thing that killed their son and brother.
This book's theme is clear and quoting Matt's Dad, Dennis Shepard,
" I didn't have a Gay son. I had a son who happened to be Gay."
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