Granger Smith’s Wife Amber Changes Hair Color After Loss of Son, River: ‘I’m Living in the Moment’

It’s been a little more than three months since Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, tragically lost their 3-year-old son, River, in a drowning accident at their pool on their family property. The couple has been vocal about their grief process, including Smith’s decision to go back on the road, and the sale of the house they loved.

Amber recently showed off a new hair color – red – explaining that she did it as a way to pay tribute to their beloved toddler.

“So this is such a trivial thing – hair color – but with going through what we’ve been through, I’ve realized how short life is,” Amber posted on social media, along with a couple photos of the stunning transformation. “How unexpected life can be. I’ve wanted to color my hair red for years and never had the guts to do so. Again, so trivial, but I’m living in the moment, now more than ever, and instead of waiting anymore to do things I’ve wanted to do, I’m doing them.

“This post isn’t really about hair color, it’s more about living for today,” she continued. “If you want to do something (obviously something good and not harmful to others), do it! We are only promised today. Make the change, call the girl or guy, forgive that person, find the job that makes you happy, go skydiving, travel to an unknown place, talk to a stranger, go back to college, learn a language, or just color your hair. #livelikeriv #todayisagift”

Amber has been much more open on social media than her husband, which Smith praised in a recent post he shared – one of only a few he has posted since the loss of his youngest son.

“I haven’t said much on socials lately,” Granger wrote. “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.”

“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.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images / Jason Kempin