Janelle Brown Says Son’s Death Brought Family Closer

The “Sister Wives” star, who has been opening up about her son’s passing after taking time to grief, shared that the tragic death awakened a new form of unity and interaction between her and her ex-husband.

Janelle Brown and Kody Brown’s son, Garrison, passed away by suicide at the tender age of 25 in March this year.

Janelle disclosed that the heartbreaking situation united her family in ways like never before and healed some complicated relationships in her former plural marriage.

She shared that her children, Christine’s children, and Meri’s children have become closer, and the incident renewed some struggling relationships.

She continued that the kids have made significant efforts to connect and be present with each other despite their busy lives and schedules.

“They’ve drawn closer, and that’s been a really wonderful thing to see because once you get to be adults, you drift away,” explained the mother-of-six.

Janelle then disclosed to PEOPLE that she and her ex-husband have stayed in touch through their individual grieving processes.

“Kody and I will periodically check on each other, and he’s kind of grieving in his own way, but I live a very separate life from him, and I do wish everybody well,” she shared. 

Despite their current living arrangement, Janelle expressed her optimism tobe “involved” with all of their children “until forever and ever and ever.”

She noted her love for the kids and how much she enjoys hanging out with them, revealing that she and fellow “Sister Wives” star Christine have remained close friends despite having “very different lives” and “going in different directions.”

Regarding her relationship with the other wives, Janelle hinted that the fans will see how she and Meri will have the chance to amend their relationship in the upcoming season of the TLC family show.

“I just really hope, I reallydo wish all the good things for Kody, Robyn, and Meri,” the reality star declared.

Before things went sour, Kody and his four wives, Meri, Christina, Janelle, and Robyn Brown, cohabited together for decades.

The family showcases their lives in TLC’s “Sister Wives,” which gathered significant momentum from a very interested audience.

However, a sister-wife set the stage for what changed the course of the entire affair. In 2021, Christine announced that she had split from her patriarch after more than 25 years of marriage.

Janelle followed suit a year later in 2022, and then Meri confirmed the union’s dissolution in January 2023, after she and Kodi had been platonic and disconnected romantically for years.

The memories of his son’s passing remained fresh in his memory, and Kody has found it hard to believe he is truly gone. The 55-year-old disclosed that his relationship with Garrison could have been better as he said:

“We could have been talking more. I’d get texts, stuff like that, and we could have, retrospectively, we could have done so much more.”

He detailed that life got in the way of their interaction, adding, “It was kind of like, we’ve got forever. It was more like it was a convenienceof time that I felt like I had. Retrospectively, there would’ve been more of a regular catching up and touching base.”

The television personality explained that she “just had no idea” that Garrison was in a dark place. She admitted that while his substance abuse could have altered the late reality star’s headspace before his death, Gunvalson never expressed “any kind of extreme sad feelings.”

Janelle described her late son “as very funny, very upbeat,” noting that he was happy with his career path. “He had a life, he had friends,” shared the reality star, who explained that Garrison had adopted another cat and was excited about his career prospects.

Thoughts and prayers to the Browns as they navigate this tough time as a family!