‘Sister Wives’ Star Meri Brown Calls Self ‘Orphan’ in Tribute Post to Late Mother

Sister Wives star Meri Brown marked three weeks since her mother died with an emotional post on Instagram Friday. In the new post, Brown referred to herself as a “50-year-old orphan,” since she has lost both her parents. Brown announced the death of her mother, Bonnie Ahlstrom, on March 27. Ahlstrom was 76 years old and died unexpectedly.

“It’s a strange thing being a 50-year-old orphan,” Brown wrote, alongside a new selfie. “I mean, we all expect our parents to pass before us, and to be real, I’m pretty sure mom and dad were both pretty satisfied with their lives. With 7 kids, and 5 of them still living, plus many grandkids and great-grandkids (I have no idea how many, I’d have to count, I usually just asked mom because she knew) they have a pretty stellar legacy they’ve left behind.”

Three weeks after her death, Brown has felt a “strange swirl of emotions,” and memories from the past have only come to the surface since she reunited with her sisters. “We wonder why this happened like it did, we start seeing the little things that had been going on and wonder if it was some sort of unknown preparation of the end getting near,” Brown wrote. “Or maybe we just like to think that because it comforts us in some strange way.”

Today, Brown continues to grieve for her mother while also leaning to “pick up the pieces of where she left off” and learning to be the “kind of person she was and the kind of person she would be proud of,” Brown wrote. In the end, Brown said she did not know how to do this without her mom and hoped her spirit was close by. “I know she’s close, I only hope I can hear her whisperings as she gives me hope and guidance,” Brown wrote. “Because I’m going to need a lot of that.”

Brown’s mother died “suddenly, unexpected, and extremely way too soon,” Brown wrote late last month. A week after her mother’s death, she shared another heartbreaking message, writing about the pain she still feels. “She was a light, a safe place, to all who knew her, and even to those who didn’t,” Brown wrote on April 2. “Her life was truly centered on Christ, more than any person I’ve ever known. She was a giver, her home always a refuge, her arms always ready to give a hug.”

Brown, 50, is married to Kody Brown, 52, and stars on TLC‘s Sister Wives. She is the first of Kody’s four wives, and shares daughter Mariah Lian, 25, with Kody. He also has six children with Janelle Brown, six with Christine Brown, and two with Robyn Brown. Kody adopted Robyn’s three children from a previous marriage. Sister Wives‘ two-hour Season 15 finale airs on TLC Sunday at 9 p.m. ET. The show’s story now centers on the strained relationship between Kody and his wives, who are all living nearby but in separate houses in Arizona during the coronavirus pandemic.