Granger Smith's wife, Amber, is speaking out about the loss of their young son, River. Granger and Amber recently appeared on Couple Things with Shawn Johnson and Andrew East.
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Talks turned to the way that the couple has dealt with grief. Granger famously moved from country music to ministry after his son's death in 2019. Prior to the tragedy, Amber said the couple had a really good marriage.
Granger was busy with the life of being a country singer. But the couple still found balance and figured things out."We were happy," she said. "We had three healthy kids."
Like her husband, Amber said she turned to religion after her son, River, died. Amber didn't grow in religious, but the tragedy made her find faith. She began "going to church for the first time in my life and reading devotionals."
Granger Smith and Amber
Faith and religion became ways for her to deal with her grief.
"And as you can imagine, as a mom and a dad, I mean, it flipped our world upside down," Amber shared. "And we didn't know if our family would survive, if our marriage would survive, if we would ever find joy again."
While they both turned to God for comfort, Amber says she and Granger "just navigated that grief and pain together, very differently."
"Our children grieved very differently," Amber continued. "But I think because I had just started to have a little small foundation in going to church and reading devotionals and things, I had little bits and pieces of scripture in my heart."
Amber said that there was a time when she was overcome with grief and couldn't do anything else. She said that she remembers feeling completely frozen. "So when I was on that bathroom floor crying and grieving so hard, I knew that I didn't want to stay there," Amber added. "I had a husband, and I had two other children who needed me."
In 2019, Granger and Amber's son accidentally drowned.
At the time, Granger shared the sad news with fans.
"Amber and I made the decision to say our last goodbyes and donate his organs so that other children will be given a second chance at life," Smith wrote. "Our family is devastated and heartbroken, but we take solace in knowing he is with his Heavenly Father."
