This year marked the first birthday Janelle Brown has celebrated since the tragic loss of her son John Garrison Brown. The Sister Wives star turned 55 earlier this week. On Sunday, she took to her Instagram Stories to share a picture of her garden party.
The photo showed Janelle smiling at a birthday cake baked by her daughter Madison Brush. Alongside the photo was a caption in which Janelle wrote she was “a little red-faced from working in the garden,” before going on to praise the cake and thank Madison.
Janelle also showed off her North Carolina garden. InTouch Weekly reported the TV personality enjoyed spending time there when not in Arizona.
With an Instagram video displaying the garden, Janelle wrote that she planned to spend much of this summer in North Carolina with her daughter and her family. She wrote that she had “big plans” for her garden, and was looking forward to learning more about gardening in the state’s climate.
Staying in North Carolina with Maddison and her husband and kids is probably the best place for Janelle right now. It’s been just over 2 months since her son Garrison took his own life at 25 years of age.
Garrison Would Have Turned 26 in April
His passing was confirmed by both Janelle and Kody Brown, who shared a joint statement on their separate accounts. Janelle wrote, “Kody and I are deeply saddened to announce the loss of our beautiful boy Robert Garrison Brown.”
The statement continued, “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.” Garrison’s memorial service was attended by the Nevada National Guard, who honored him for his service as a staff sergeant.
Janelle took a break from social media during this time, returning at the end of March to share an update on how she was coping. She wrote that it had been hard to “get my brain to work properly” since the loss of her son. She also thanked everyone who had shown support in the weeks since Garrison’s passing, describing it as “overwhelming”.
Janelle took to Instagram again several days later to mark another significant day. On April 10 she posted a tribute to Garrison on what would have been his 26th birthday.
Janelle shared a montage of throwback clips and pictures of Garrison during several previous birthdays. In the caption, she wrote, “Happy Birthday Sweetheart. We are missing you terribly today.”
She went on to express how hard it was for her family to believe that Garrison was no longer with them. Although the pain of her loss will probably never go away, hopefully, Janelle and her family can find comfort in spending time together this summer.
