Meri Brown detailed the heartbreak she felt after losing her brother Adam following his battle with cancer.
The Sister Wives star, 52, shared via Instagram on Friday, October 6, that her older sibling passed away on Thursday, October 5, after choosing to stop chemotherapy treatment five weeks earlier.
“Just 2 months short of his 55th birthday, we lost him,” Brown wrote, reflecting on their childhood. “I have so many good memories with him over the years, because, siblings. I also have some not so good memories with him through the years, because, siblings. 😆.”
Brown revealed that when she learned Adam’s “cancer was terminal and that he potentially had only weeks or months to live, something hit me like a ton of bricks.” After his death, she confessed she felt lonely as she is the only one of her “original four” siblings that are still alive.
“We lost Teresa, our sister just younger than me, to cancer in 2006. We lost our oldest brother Marc to heart issues in 2015. Now Adam to another type of cancer,” she explained. “That leaves me.”
The TLC personality noted that technically “it’s not just me” because she has three younger sisters that are also from her mother. Plus, after growing up in a polygamist family herself, Meri has other siblings from her sister moms.
Although she is not an only child, Meri acknowledged that Adam’s passing has really shaken her up. She pondered whether the fact that the four oldest children were the only ones born in California — or the fact that they were the kids from their parents’ lives pre-polygamy was a factor in her grief.
“I don’t know what it is, but there’s always been something about the original 4. Not better, just different. Not closer, just different,” she continued. “Maybe I’ll figure it out someday, maybe I won’t. Only time will tell.”
Brown then joked about her and Adam’s dynamic, revealing they often had a battle of wits, which she will never forget.
“Regardless, (and you have no idea how bad I want to type in ‘irregardless’ there, in honor of him & our many arguments about whether that is even a word) I will move forward living, loving, forgiving, remembering,” she continued. “The relationship I had with him taught me many things, and I have no doubt will continue to teach me things. I remain open to those lessons & look forward to them with anticipation.”
Brown concluded: “For now, I remember him with honor, kindness, & love. PS Adam, I have the last word. And that is REGARDLESS 💙.”
Brown and her three eldest siblings moved from California to Utah with their parents as kids. At that time, they became polygamists and Brown eventually became one of more than 20 kids through their extended family unit.
When she was 18, Meri met Kody Brown — having been introduced by one of her sisters — while part of the same church. Meri and Kody, 54, wed in 1990 and they later welcomed their only child, Leon, now 28. The Browns added Christine Brown and Janelle Brown into their family in 1993 and 1994, respectively. (Janelle, 54, was previously married to Meri’s late brother Adam.)
Kody’s fourth wife, Robyn Brown, came into the fold in 2010. Four years later, he divorced Meri so he could legally marry Robyn, 45, and adopt her three children from a prior marriage. Although Kody remained in a spiritual union with Meri, the pair confirmed in January that their romantic relationship was over. Meri was the third wife to leave Kody, following Christine’s departure in November 2021 and Janelle’s separation in December 2022.
