Sister Wives star Meri Brown shared an update on how Janelle and Kody Brown are coping, three months after their son Garrison’s death by suicide at 25.
Meri, 53 — who was in a polygamous marriage with Kody, 55, and his three other wives, Janelle, 54, Christine, 52, and Robyn, 45, before their split over a year ago — shared that there’s been ‘good days and bad days’ for the grieving parents.
‘I just feel so much for Janelle — I watched my mom lose two of her own kids before she passed. It’s tragic,’ she shared on the Miss Understood Podcast on Monday.
‘I think there’s good days and bad days, I don’t know how there couldn’t be,’ she went on.
‘There’s still times where I’ll see a picture of Garrison and I’m like, “Oh, I don’t like that this happened. It’s really sad.’
Sister Wives star Meri Brown, 53, shared an update on how Janelle, 54, and Kody Brown, 55, are coping, three months after their son Garrison’s death by suicide at 25
Meri shared that there’s been ‘good days and bad days’ for the grieving parents while appearing on the Miss Understood Podcast on Monday
Meri explained that grief is ‘different for every situation.’
‘You really have to do what you need to do at the moment. Embrace the pain, cry when you need to, spend time alone and when you’re feeling ok, get up and take a walk.’
Meri also stressed that grief is not a linear process.
‘I think a lot of times people have a box that we think we should live in. Grief, it’s not linear — it’s not a checklist. It’s all the emotions all the time and whenever they decide to pop up.’
She added that though life will eventually get better, the love for the person who is gone cannot be replaced.
‘I think that a lot of people will say, “You’re gonna move past it, you’re gonna move through it.” And you will, but I think that there’s this hole that is created and people will say that hole will fill up, but the hole will always be there.’
Garrison passed on March 5 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and he was laid to rest a week later.
Ethanol intoxication was listed as a contributing factor as Garrison’s blood alcohol level was more than 3 times the legal limit — which is .08% in the United States — at the time of his death.
‘There’s still times where I’ll see a picture of Garrison and I’m like, “Oh, I don’t like that this happened. It’s really sad,’ Meri shared
‘I just feel so much for Janelle — I watched my mom lose two of her own kids before she passed. It’s tragic,’ she added
Garrison passed on March 5 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and he was laid to rest a week later
Garrison was found dead by his brother Gabriel with Janelle announcing the tragic news on behalf of the family via Instagram that same day
Garrison was found dead by his brother Gabriel on March 5, with Janelle announcing the tragic news on behalf of the family via Instagram that same day.
‘Kody and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy Robert Garrison Brown,’ she said. ‘He was a bright spot in the lives of all who knew him.’
‘His loss will leave such a big hole in our lives that it takes our breath away. We ask that you please respect our privacy and join us in honoring his memory.’
Meri also discussed her current relationship with her former sister wives, after their polygamous marriage fell apart and Kody was left with just one wife – Robyn.
She said that though she is ‘cordial’ with them, she does not ‘seek them out’ to have a friendship.
‘When I see them we have cordial conversations, but I don’t seek them out to have a relationship.’
‘I feel like we had a lot of time to be able to do that, and in the past — a little bit over a year since I separated myself, when Kody and I separated and were done — I’ve had a lot of things I’m working on in myself.’
‘I think it’s really really important to be surrounded by the people that really encourage that,’ she added.
The reality TV star said it was hard to come to terms with separating from the family, after growing up in a polygamous household.
Meri was in a polygamous marriage with Kody and his three other wives, Janelle, Christine, 52, and Robyn, 45, before their split over a year ago; (L-R) Robyn, Meri, Kody, Christine and Janelle in 2012
While discussing the status of their current relationship, she said that though she is ‘cordial’ with them, she does not ‘seek them out’ to have a friendship; The former wives seen in 2010
‘I think for a lot of years I was like, wait a second, we’re family, we need to really stick together,’ she explained.
‘But then I also look at my own family that I came from, and I’ve got my own siblings that I talk to everyday. I’ve got some siblings that I talk to every week. And I’ve got some that I talk to at funerals and weddings.’
‘Sometimes people are just in your life for a season and it’s okay to let things go if the relationship is not reciprocal and it’s not building me up or building them up — that goes for him, it goes for my sister wives, it goes for anyone in my life.’
She added that it was nice to see Janelle and Christine become close friends.
‘I think it’s awesome that Janelle and Christine are close. They were not when we were all together — they were not for all those years — so whatever’s made them close like that now, I think it’s great.’
As for love, Meri revealed she hopes to get married once again, but is not interested in ever being polygamous again.
‘I always only wanted one man, but I also don’t want him to have another woman,’ she said.
For 18 seasons of TLC’s hit show Sister Wives, viewers have followed the ups and downs of Kody’s plural family life with his four wives and 18 children.
TLC fans were introduced to the Brown family in 2010 when Kody, a prominent polygamist, was legally married to Meri, and spiritually married to Janelle and Christine. He then divorced Meri in order to legally marry new wife Robyn.
The first season of the show followed Robyn’s integration into the large family, after the other three wives had been living and raising their kids together for 16 years.
In recent years all three of Kody’s wives but Robyn Brown, 45, had left him, creating major fractions in the family
For 18 seasons of TLC’s hit show Sister Wives, viewers have followed the ups and downs of Kody’s plural family life with his four wives and 18 children
In September 2023 Christine discussed the fractured family bonds during an episode of the show, saying, ‘There’s so many things that are broken now. We’re just not a family anymore.’
Christine was the first to leave, announcing her split from Kody in November 2021, after 25 years of marriage and six children together.
A little over a year later, Janelle decided to leave as well, confirming their separation in December 2022.
Just a few days after, it was also confirmed that Kody’s 32-year marriage with first wife Meri was done as well. The pair welcomed one child together, Leon Brown, 28, who goes by they/them pronouns and is estranged from Kody.
