Shepard has been sober since 2004, and Bell always makes a big deal out of his “sobriety birthday.” It’s something the couple has spoken candidly about plenty of times before, and Shepard even once joked that Bell makes a bigger deal out of his sober birthday, spoiling the heck out of him, than she does out of his actual birthday.“I'm very happy he was born so I celebrate his birthday, but I'm extraordinarily [happy] that he has stayed sober because that’s what allows me to have him in my life as a husband and as a father," Bell told People last year, referring to their daughters Lincoln, 7, and Delta, 5.
The Good Place star wrote a lengthier post in 2018 to publicly congratulate her husband for sticking to his goals and staying sober, sharing the journey she has witnessed him take. “I know how much you loved using. I know how much it got in your way. And I know, because I saw, how hard you worked to live without it. I will forever be in awe of your dedication, and the level of fierce moral inventory you perform on yourself, like an emotional surgery, every single night,” Bell wrote at the time.“You never fail to make amends, or say sorry when its needed. You are always available to guide me, and all of our friends, with open ears and tough love when its needed most,” she continued. “You have become the fertilizer in the garden of our life, encouraging everyone to grow. I'm so proud that you have never been ashamed of your story, but instead shared it widely, with the hope it might inspire someone else to become the best version of themselves. You have certainly inspired me to do so.”[video_embed id='-1']RELATED: Kristen Bell calls Jennifer Garner one of her 'guiding lights' [/video_embed]“I was a drug abuser, let’s not tiptoe around it,” Shepard also opened up to Conan O’Brien when he was 13 years sober. “I am very grateful that I got sober. I wouldn’t have gotten my wife, my children, anything. We probably wouldn’t be having this conversation.”Bell and Shepard have been married since October 2013, and have since been frank about many aspects of their relationship, from fighting in quarantine and how their story wasn’t exactly love at first sight to their parenting struggles or dealing with depression and anxiety.[video_embed id='2027077']BEFORE YOU GO: Malin Akerman says she doesn’t want her 7-year-old son to see all of her movies… yet [/video_embed]12 years ago today I came out of my last toxic, life threatening stupor. I now have a wife & babies & some self-esteem #gratitude #promises
— dax shepard (@daxshepard) September 1, 2016