At the start of 2019, country music singer Granger Smith and his wife Amber seemed to be living the ideal life. Granger’s career was starting to take off and he and Amber shared three beautiful children — little girl and two boys. Together, they lived on a vast estate in Nashville, often documenting their lives through their YouTube channel. In June of 2019, the family experienced unimaginable heartbreak. Their son, 3-year-old River, tragically died during a drowning accident at their home. As the family continues to grieve the unimaginable loss, they have found comfort in the most unexpected places, according to Today .
Shortly after River’s death, Amber and Granger came together to film a heart-wrenching YouTube video in which they explained the events that led up to their son’s death and talked about how they are doing as a family in the wake of the tragedy. Tearfully, they explained that their lives would never be the same and that the hole in their life that River once filled would always be there. However, they were determined to go on with life and find happiness wherever they could for the sake of their other two young children.
At the conclusion of the video, the couple shared a conglomeration of clips of River’s life. The little boy is seen laughing joyfully, spending time with his family, and playing without a worry in the world. Amber and Granger explained that while their son only lived a very short time on Earth, the time he did spent was full of happiness and he was always surrounded by light.
Granger Smith’s Wife Amber Reflects on the ‘Light’ That Was Always Around Their Late Son River https://t.co/03oSlSE0mZ
— People (@people) July 5, 2019
Amber said that she was recently looking through pictures of her deceased son in hopes of finding comfort in his memory. It was then that she noticed a unique connection between many of the photos — light seemed to be a focal point in nearly every shot. This is particularly interesting, because River actually spoke about wanting to reach the light when he was still alive. Amber recalled this in her recent touching Instagram post.
“I couldn’t sleep last night so I was going through photos of River. I noticed so many with this light around him that I never really took notice of before. We always used to ask him what he wanted to be when he grew up. He never said a fireman, or policeman or doctor. He always said ‘when I get bigger I reach the light.’ I know he probably meant the light switch, but it still makes me smile and still gives me a bit of hope.”
