Sister Wives’ Meri Brown Recalls Being ‘Moved to Tears’ by an Unexpected ‘Reminder’ of Garrison Brown
Meri said the emotions she felt after discovering the photo of Garrison was “a testament of the love I have for him, [and] the pain of the loss of him,” before opening up about her grief
Meri Brown is continuing to mourn the loss of Garrison Brown.
The Sister Wives star, 53, shared that she was hit with a wave of emotion after unexpectedly finding a photo of Garrison on her cellphone.
“Looking through my phone tonight on the hunt for something completely unrelated, I came across this old photo of Garrison and me from 2018,” she shared on Instagram April 2 alongside a snapshot of the pair. “A photo I didn’t remember I had, and one that I will forever cherish.”
The reality star explained that seeing the photo “immediately moved me to tears,” which she called “a testament of the love I have for him, [and] the pain of the loss of him.”
“It’s a reminder that grief comes in unexpected waves, memories of the moments with him all that remains,” she added. “Four weeks today without him here with us. A lifetime of memories to hold sacred.”
Meri recently paid tribute to her mother Bonnie Ahlstrom on the third anniversary of her death, and marked the three-week anniversary of Garrison’s death on Instagram.
“Today, March 26, marks 3 years since the passing of my beautiful mom, and 3 weeks since the passing of our sweet Garrison,” she wrote in part alongside a split image of her with both of her loved ones.
The TLC star then reflected on how grief can bring about “a myriad of emotions,” including “despair and anger, feelings of pain, or hopelessness.” She added, “It’s a universal human emotion and a natural response to loss.”
“Grief is also love, for without feeling the love, the pain of loss wouldn’t be so great,” she continued. “Grief sends you on a roller coaster of emotions, never knowing the twists and turns ahead, whether you’re headed into an upturn or a free fall. Grief is not linear. There’s no timeline or rulebook to follow. It’s not the same for any two people, and no two people handle it in the same exact way.”
Meri also admitted that she is adjusting to a new normal amid her grief, explaining, “Life will never go ‘back’ to normal after a loss, that particular ‘normal’ will never be again. But it will go forward. It always moves forward.”
“It then becomes a question of, what will you do in that forward? What will that new normal look like? What will you do to honor the love and the relationship with the person you lost?” she shared.
“For me, I will remember and celebrate the good times and beautiful memories. I will honor myself and feel the grief when it arises because it inevitably will,” she concluded. “But most importantly, I will live, and I will love every day of that living!”
Last month, Christine’s former sister wife, Janelle Brown, announced her son Garrison’s sudden death at age 25 in a statement shared to Instagram.
“Kody and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy Robert Garrison Brown,” her post began. “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,” the statement concluded. His father Kody, 55, also shared the same statement on social media, and many members of the Brown family followed suit.
At the time, Lieutenant Charles M. Hernandez II of the Flagstaff Police Department also confirmed the sad news, telling PEOPLE in a statement: “On 03/05/2024 Flagstaff Police officers responded to a report of a death inside a home.” The FPD confirmed that Garrison’s brother Gabriel, 22, “discovered Mr. Brown deceased” in an apparent suicide.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.