Emilie Kiser is sharing how the tragic death of her young son Trigg has forever changed the holiday season.
“If you sent me just, like, sweet DMs yesterday — messages, well wishes — I am so grateful for you and thank you so much for reaching out,” Kiser, 26, said in a “get ready with me” video shared via TikTok on Saturday, December 27. “Truly so grateful for my family this year, even though we were not home for Christmas this year. We just did not want to have a traditional Christmas without Trigg.”
She continued, “My family made sure to just make us still feel so special — make it special for Teddy. We were able to just have very quality time together and that is, like, really just all we wanted this year — making memories still, but not having it feel like a normal Christmas. I just didn’t want to force a normal Christmas because it is not a normal Christmas. It was, quite frankly, a terrible Christmas for us — I say that just to be real and honest.”
The Chandler, Arizona, Police Department confirmed to Us Weekly in May that Trigg died at age 3 after being pulled unconscious from the family’s backyard pool. In July, authorities submitted a criminal charge recommendation for Kiser’s husband, Brady Kiser, who was home when the incident occurred. (The pair also share 9-month-old son Teddy.) A statement shared by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office later said there was “no likelihood of conviction.”
Emilie Kiser Explains Why Elf on the Shelf Is ‘Painful’ After Son’s Death
After pausing all social media activity in the wake of Trigg’s death, Emilie ultimately broke her silence on the tragedy in August.
“Loss of this magnitude feels impossible to put into words,” Emilie wrote via Instagram at the time. “I’ve spent days, weeks, months trying to find them and also take the time I’ve needed to digest the loss of my baby.”
She continued, “Trigg is our baby and our best friend. The light and spirit he brought into this world was bright, pure, joyful and undeniable. We miss him every second of every day and continuing forward often feels unbearable. I never thought we would experience grief in this way or the pain of losing him so suddenly.”
Earlier this month, a source exclusively told Us that Emilie and Brady “have been thoughtfully working on their relationship” for “a number of months” since their son’s untimely death.
“They have gone through the worst tragedy you could ever experience as parents and they are doing their best to come together as a family,” the insider said. “This holiday season is so important to bring a sense of normal for their family. And they’re still keeping things private as they work to be the best parents they can be to Teddy.”
Emilie Kiser Admits She ‘Barely’ Made It Through Months After Trigg’s Death
On Saturday, Emilie once again thanked her siblings for helping her family navigate the holiday season amidst their profound grief.
“I’m really just so grateful to my siblings, because they all just kind of picked up what they were gonna do this year, possibly, or even if they were gonna come out to Arizona this year for Christmas,” she added. “They were all just kinda like, ‘We are all gonna do whatever you guys want to do and whatever makes you guys comfortable this year.’”
For the holiday, Emilie and her family traveled to California, where she said the trip was mostly just “up in the air, going straight off of how everyone is feeling [and] what everyone kinda wants to do in a day.”
For more vital, life-saving information on pool safety, see Bode Miller’s tips and visit Coverstar’s website.
