Brandon Barash jake days Brandon Barash Photo ShootJPI StudiosLos Angeles07/16/12© John Paschal/jpistudios.com310-657-9661Episode # 11920U.S.Airdate 09/18/12
Credit: John Paschal/JPI

The actor lost his pop four years ago.

For years, June 7 was a pretty darned good day for Brandon Barash: On it, his dad Jerry celebrated his birthday. But since he passed away in 2017… well… the date has taken on a different feeling. Bittersweet, you can imagine. Reflective.

“Today would’ve been my pop’s 70th,” the actor shared on Instagram. “While June 7 is always a sad, heavy day, I’m uplifted by the solace and power I find in the love he left behind.

“I love you, Pop,” he concluded.

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There can be no understating the magnitude of Barash’s loss. In 2020, the Days of Our Lives leading man accompanied a photo of himself — in lederhosen? — with his dad with this message: “Pop, you’ve been gone three years, yet it feels like a lifetime. I’d do anything for one more conversation… one more hug… one more kiss… one more laugh… one more scotch… one more poker game.

“I’d even wear these godforsaken lederhosen you and Mom put me in,” he added.

 

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The year prior, Jake’s portrayer admitted that two years on, “The abyss is still deep, yet my love for you grows deeper. The nights are still blindingly dark, yet your love shines brighter every day in my daughter’s eyes and in her smile.

“The earth’s rotation… still disorienting,” he continued, “but my love for you finds me more grounded than ever.”

More: The upside of Days of Our Lives’ divorce

 

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Sigh. Call your dads if you can, folks. And if you need a little hug for the heart before you go, stop off at the below photo gallery of other soap stars and their real-life fathers.