Beau Biden died in May 2015 of brain cancer.
Joe Biden is still trying to do right by his son.
The former Vice President gets emotional on his upcoming appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show while discussing his new book, Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship and Purpose, which he wrote about his late son, Beau Biden.
"I'm going to sound like a typical dad, but I wanted people to know what a remarkable son my son, Beau Biden, was," Biden explains. "I wanted to write about what an incredible man he was, and what a relationship he had with his brother, a year and a day younger, and his sister, and how he really built this family of mine."
Beau died in May 2015 of brain cancer. He was 46 years old. During his Ellen appearance set to air on Monday, Biden says that he hopes his book will inspire others find a "purpose" after going through tough times of their own.
"You can find purpose in your life, and you can turn the loss of the person you love into devoting your time into what they would be doing, were they still alive," he shares, getting chocked up. "I hope people get a sense of purpose out of it."
Biden also reveals that he got advice from former President Barack Obama while writing the book, but it was his other son, Hunter, who helped him focus the story.
"I say to my son, 'Well, Beau said this to me.' He said, 'Dad, he couldn't have said that. He couldn't speak for the last two months. He had that tube down his throat, Dad.' What you find yourself doing is putting the really bad, bad memories out of your mind," he says. "You want to look at them, I want to think of them as this beautiful kid in the back of the book, or strong Major in the United States Army, or the guy introducing me at the National Convention. But it was a catharsis in the sense that I wanted to be completely honest, but not maudlin."
"What [Beau] kept saying was, 'Promise me, Dad, that I'm going to be alright no matter what happens. But Dad, give me your word as a Biden, promise me you'll be alright. Promise me, Dad,'" Biden reveals of the book's title. "What he meant was he was worried, not that I would give up on the family, but that I'd withdraw, and not continue to fight for the things that I'm passionate about."
"That's the essence of the book, Promise Me, Dad," he emotionally concluded. "And I'm trying to keep his promise."
