Despite the joy that comes with welcoming a new addition to the family, the past year has been a difficult and painful one for Kristin Cavallari. That's because just weeks after she gave birth to daughter Saylor last winter, her 30-year-old brother, Michael, was found dead.
Now the reality TV star and mother of three is speaking out about the loss and how she's coped with it.
“I couldn't just fall apart," Cavallari explained during a Facebook Live chat with Us Weekly. "I did at the time, and I still do find a lot of strength in my children ... because of the timing of everything.”
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She took comfort not just from her love for her kids, but also in the obligations that come with it. Their needs didn't stop due to the heartbreaking event.
"You can’t just stay in bed and feel sorry for yourself," she said. "You gotta get up. You have other lives you have to take care of. You have to put food on the table and get them dressed and off to school and everything."
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Her brother had been missing for two weeks before police discovered his body in a Utah desert last December. Over the summer, Cavallari and her family gathered there to honor him.
“My brother’s birthday was June 11, and so my family — my mom, my stepdad, my dad, (my husband) Jay (Cutler) and I — all went out to Utah where he was found,” she said. “And we put a little plaque in the rock where he was found and had our own sort of service for him."
But they weren't there to mourn. Cavallari said, "It was more of a celebration.”