Granger Smith Reveals ‘Life Is a Storm’ 3 Months After Son River’s Death

The country music world was taken aback in June when news broke that the son of Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, had lost their 3-year old son, River after an accidental drowning in the family’s home. In the months since, Smith is reflecting deeply over the unthinkable tragedy, revealing that life has been a “storm” since the tragedy.

Breaking his silence on Sunday afternoon in a heartfelt post shared to his Instagram, Granger revealed the reason he was notably absent from social media.

“I haven’t said much on socials lately,” Granger wrote in his caption. “It’s not that I don’t have anything to say, it’s more that most things just don’t seem important enough to share. We all know that social media has become a mask…a highlight reel per say, that we can hide behind and appear to promote our best moments of our best days. Eh…that stuff doesn’t matter.”

Smith revealed that’s why he’s continuing his YouTube channel, so that he can “turn on the camera and talk like we’re just friends in the same room.”

“No mask,” he continued. “Amber has continued to post on her socials and I’m blown away by her ability to be so real, raw and engaging in her captions and pictures. Once upon a time I had the way with words in our relationship, but now I’m letting her speak for us both.”

He added that they “certainly see the world with [their] masks off now.”

“Each night I find myself looking out at faces in our crowd and thinking about all the different stories…all the hidden struggles. We need each other,” he said.

Smith ended his message, writing: “All that said, know this: Life is a storm. Realizing that makes it easier to be grateful for the rays of sunshine.”

A spokesman for Smith broke the news in June, noting that the tragedy occurred at the family’s home. At the time, Smith shared the heartbreaking news on his Instagram delivering the unthinkable news: “We’ve lost our youngest son, River Kelly Smith. Following a tragic accident, and despite doctor’s best efforts, he was unable to be revived. 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. Our family is devastated and heartbroken, but we take solace in knowing he is with his Heavenly Father.”

A few months after the incident, the couple opted to move. The two shared their reasoning in a YouTube video that explained how losing their son, River, there made it just too hard to continue living there.

The couple planned to stay there for a “long, long time” before the tragedy.

“There was a lot of – thousands of really good memories and one really bad one. We’d go back and forth because River loved those woods and those fields, and that was his land,” said Smith, who also said the two prayed and felt “compelled” by their Faith to make the move.

Smith has continued to keep his tour dates in tact and is on the road for the remaining months in 2019.