It’s been nearly a year since Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, shared the tragic news of their 3-year-old son River’s drowning death. This week, Amber posted a throwback photo of the whole family — including River, along with his two older siblings — that was taken just weeks before River died.
“One year ago,” Amber reflected. “My caption was ‘Enjoying Daddy being home and Texas rain.’”
As she looks back at that time period now, Amber says she can’t help but think of how easily life can change in a moment.
“No one has a perfect life, but it was pretty dang good. Happy kids, happy marriage, happy hearts,” she continued. “We couldn’t have known the storm we would be facing in less than 30 days. Life is unpredictable. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Life can change in an instant. Love your family. Love your friends. Love your God.”
The country couple first shared the news of River’s death on June 6, 2019. While they didn’t specify the cause of death in their original announcement, Granger and Amber later opened up about the experience of losing a child to drowning in an emotional series of videos on their YouTube page.
Part of the couple’s reason for sharing their story was to raise awareness about water safety for families, especially during the warmer months. They also raised over $100,000 for Dell Children’s Medical Center, where River was treated before his death, through tribute T-shirt sales.
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