An unexpected loss shakes everyone in the Brown family, especially Meri, on Sunday's 'Sister Wives.'
Sunday was an emotional episode of Sister Wives for Kody Brown's first wife, Meri Brown. The TLC star stayed mostly quiet as the drama unfolded between her estranged husband and the rest of her sister wives over COVID rules at the beginning of the episode.
But about halfway through the episode, Meri was seen in her car rushing to the hospital five hours away. She shares that her mother, Bonnie, had been in the hospital for two days and they realized she was having an extended heart attack. Things took a turn and Meri was urged to go to the hospital to see her mother before she died.
"It's not something I'm ready for," Meri tearfully says. "She's only 76."
Tragically, Meri is one hour away from the hospital when she receives the call that her mother has died. Viewers got to see her heartbreaking reaction as she tries to come to terms with the devastating loss while still behind the wheel.
"I don't even know how to do this," Meri cries. "This is just so unexpected and so quick. This is not supposed to happen this way."
The rest of the family also mourns the loss, remembering what a light Bonnie was to them all.
"Bonnie was my first mother-in-law. I think I fell in love with her first, you know?" Kody says, smiling. "She's just the sweetest lady."
Robyn shares that Bonnie, who also was a part of a plural marriage, had always welcomed her as Kody's fourth wife.
"Bonnie always treated me like I knew her forever. Every time I was around her it was a sweet experience," Robyn says. "She always made me feel welcome."
Christine, whose family also came from the church, shares that Bonnie encouraged her to mend her broken relationship with her own mother.
"After my mom left our church, people didn't know what to do with her. I didn't know what to do with her," Christine admits. "[Bonnie] just always pushed me to reconcile with my mom, always. And that's just Bonnie, to the core."
Meri then tearfully gives an update, expressing her grief over her mother's sudden death.
"I don't know what to do at this point. I don't know what the rest of my life's going to look like," she says in her aside interview. "There's just a lot I have to figure out because she's just always been there."
Meri's mom died in March 2021. At the time, Meri posted a touching tribute to the late matriarch.
"76 years and 17 days was not enough time for the world to feel the beautiful spirit of this beautiful woman," she wrote at the time. "This woman whose life mission was to give, to love, to serve. This woman who only knew how to do for others. This woman who would drop everything for you. This woman who was strong, resilient, compassionate. This woman who was a safe place to land, no matter where, no matter when."
Sister Wives airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.
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