“I’m coming up to Alaska, we’re not doing this. I was so mad,” she shared of her son’ Tripp’s “gut-wrenching” decision to live with his father, Levi Johnston.
Bristol Palin is recalling the emotional moment her son, Tripp texted her that he would be living with his Dad — her ex, Levi Johnston — in Alaska.
While on former Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke’s Sex, Lies and Spray Tans podcast, the 33-year-old admitted it “still is gut-wrenching to” her.
“It’s been just Tripp and I, and then I had my girls, but it’s always been Tripp and I.”
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Palin revealed how different their home now feels without the 15-year-old.
“[Tripp] needs that relationship,” Palin continued.
“He thinks that this is best right now and all I can do is just hope and pray that it is what’s best,” she added. “As hard as it is for me, and it’s so hard for my girls too, I know that he needs to grow that relationship with his Dad.”
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“He just texted me and was like, ‘Hey, Mom, I’m not coming back,'” she recalled, before her mom-mode activated. “I couldn’t even believe it. At first I’m like, ‘I’m coming up to Alaska, we’re not doing this.’ I was so mad.”
However, over time the Teen Mom OG alum accepted his decision and said the pair remain in close contact while they’re apart.
“I respect that he thinks this is what’s best and he needs that relationship with his dad,” she said. “Selfishly, I’m like, ‘I just want him with me forever.’ He’s my best friend. My kids are my whole world. But I can’t be selfish in that.”
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Palin’s fans learned that Tripp was no longer living at him with his mom and family after Bristol shared how difficult the first day back to school was earlier in August.
Bristol took to Instagram to share a first day of school photo featuring her daughters Sailor Grace, 8, Atlee Bay, 7 — whom she shares with ex-husband Dakota Meyer — before revealing that her 15-year-old son had moved back to Alaska.
“This has been the hardest ‘first day of school’ yet with one of the biggest pieces of my heart missing,” the 33-year-old wrote on Instagram.
“Tripp has decided to finish out high school in Alaska to be closer to his dad and our entire family.”
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In addition to being closer to his dad, and Bristol’s mom, former Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin, Bristol said that her son’s passion for hunting and fishing largely influenced his decision.
“As hard as it has been to come to grips with his decision — it’s truly not about what I want,” Bristol said. “He’s almost 16 years old and that relationship with his dad is a lot more important than my own selfish desires of having him with his mama forever! I can’t talk about it yet without crying, but selfishly praying for a quick year and easy transition for us all.”
Bristol moved to Texas from Alaska after marrying Meyer and stayed in the Lone Star state after their 2018 divorce for the sake of her daughters.
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