Bristol Palin has addressed why her son, Tripp, 15, is absent from the back-to-school photos she posted on Aug. 14.
“This has been the hardest ‘first day of school’ yet with one of the biggest pieces of my heart missing,” Bristol, a real estate agent in Texas, wrote on her Instagram stories. “Tripp has decided to finish out high school in Alaska to be closer to his dad and our entire family.”
“If you know Tripp, you know he lives for hunting/fishing and I honestly can’t blame him for wanting to be back home,” she continued. “As hard as it has been to come to grips with his decision — it’s truly not about what I want. 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, 33, added.
The “Teen Mom: OG” alum shares Tripp with ex-fiancé Levi Johnston. She shares daughters Sailor, 8, and Atlee, 7, with her ex-husband, Dakota Meyer.
The late Senator John McCain famously tapped Bristol’s mother, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, to be his running mate during the 2008 presidential election. That year, Sarah and then-husband Todd, announced that their unmarried, 17-year-old daughter, Bristol was pregnant.
“Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family,” Sarah and Todd wrote in part, in their joint statement. “We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi’s privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.”
Bristol and Levi welcomed Tripp in Dec. 2008. The former couple officially ended their on/off relationship in 2010.
