Denali: A Man, A Dog, and the Friendship of a Lifetime
Written and Narrated By: Ben Moon
Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
Fearless sharing with love given, love received
Make no mistake: Ben Moon IS THE guy living in a van down by the river. This young man has striven his entire life to avoid the perceived security of job-ya-hate and home ownership and has instead devoted himself to finding nature, pushing his body, embracing freedom. I generally have no patience for this type of person as they inVARiably require others to take care of them, whether needing a place to park their vans, a place to grab a shower and food, a few bucks to tide them over, somebody to pick up their medical bills. I know, I know, I’m harsh…
But Moon is sooo earnest and independent, and he does so love the great outdoors that he’s been willing to make the trade offs of eschewing a “secure” lifestyle. Here in Denali, he chronicles how he went from a scrawny depressive and hypersensitive little kid to being a man courageous enough to share what he learned from coping with catastrophic illness, the job tradeoffs, the relationship tradeoffs, all with the help of a stunner of a dog named Denali (And I kept coming back to the cover photo as that dog totally has such a soulful look about him!).
He first picked Denali as a pup at a local animal shelter, and after bonding soul to soul, the dog got him through a rough and failed young marriage (Moon had been 23, his young bride—who probably has some choice words about him, sounds like—was only 20). And Moon thought that was that; after so much heartache and such struggling through the deterioration of the relationship and his wife’s eventual betrayal, he thought he’d been through the wringer and had lived to tell about it.
Enter colon cancer in his 20s. Stage III, with his rectum and anus removed to ensure a safe margin after a massive tumor was treated/removed, thereby ensuring Moon’s ultimate reliance on a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. And life is not guaranteed, his case being caught just in the nick of time.
That’s where the book reeeeally started resonating with me. We have huMONgous incidences of cancers of the digestive tract, and my brother recently did his own struggling with a colon cancer diagnosis, so I’ve seen how horrific the whole process can be. There’s such a wretched stigma attached to the symptoms and treatment of such a cancer, and at first Moon wrestles with ANY reasons for his increasingly severe digestive ailments OTHER than what became obvious to those around him: Dude, this is serious.
The book is a fearless and unapologetic sharing of what it’s like to deal with such a cancer, complete with what it’s like to be so very young, have such an active lifestyle, and be told that you will forever be bonded to a, as he puts it: shitbag, until death. At first, he’s not sure he can handle it, after all, the man surfs, rock climbs, hikes to explore, loves getting in the ocean and any body of water he can find. And what he discovers is that it’s NOT easy, and his new life is filled with shame, embarrassment, a desperate fear that he will never be able to truly show himself to anyone, least of all a special woman. There are bag explosions, gas attacks, and fortunately through it all? Moon has friends who support and love him.
But most of all? He has Denali, the dog who’s been there in sickness and in health, a loving and accepting companion who’s there even as the friends support then go back to lives of their own. This is truly a sweet book about an awesome relationship, and it was a pleasure to listen to.
Not necessarily, however, a pleasure to hear. Moon narrates this himself, and his voice borders on a monotone. There are splices where his narrative is taken up again, and his voice is even lower, even MORE a droning with a flat, dull edge, so that it’s almost painful. Still, his story is so captivating and his love for Denali is so heartfelt that it was fairly easy to dismiss the drone and stick with the listen.
By the end, Moon has come to terms with his colostomy bag, even as friends named it Earl, giving them all a chance to deal with Earl’s more disgusting outbursts of sound, gas, unfortunate noises, thereby distancing all that from Moon himself. And Moon posts a photo of himself shirtless, bag to be seen by the world, along with his story of pain, painful self-consciousness, resilience, and hope, and the response is great indeed. He has become an inspiration, and his story has given people awareness and a prod to take symptoms seriously.
There’s also great heartache as Denali, ever the loving and steadfast companion (And no dog who’s ever lived in a van only to have the great outdoors as a playground has ever been so incredibly loved and appreciated), grows older and sickens himself. This leads Moon to be there for his companion, as much by his side, as his faithful companion was for him. And it definitely brings a tear or two to the listener’s eye.
A wonderful story about a man who has chosen a different, freer way of life but who still has to navigate illness (with a side dose of depression and anxiety thrown in for good measure). An honest and searing account of colon cancer and the friends who see you through it. A story of love and devotion between man and dog.
And I keeeeep coming back to that cover photo! What a dog! What a wonderful soul!!!
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