Grayson Chrisley is opening up about how he’s changed since his mom and dad went to prison. While talking with his big sister, Savannah, he told her that he’s felt “bitter” since Todd and Julie went to jail for tax fraud.
He admitted that the constant flying back and forth to Todd and Julie’s respective prisons has been a lot for him as a 17-year-old boy. “I struggle going back to back weeks because I’m in that mood… and then I go and start it all over again. You never really get out of it,” he said, telling Savannah that “some days or weeks are harder than others.”
Grayson Chrisley went on to say that he and Savannah sometimes “butt heads” when planning visits to see Todd and Julie. “It’s not that I don’t want to go, but I’m also 17,” he explained.
And Savannah ultimately understood where her teen brother was coming from. “I think that’s a hard balance that we have yet to find. But then it’s also hard because there’s some weekends you don’t want to go, but then the hard part is when you don’t go, our schedules don’t align. And then you don’t see one of them for three or four weeks and then you’re struggling because you haven’t seen him for that long.”
“It’s like, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Grayson said, before Savannah added, “Which is tough because no one should ever be put in that position.”
Savannah continued telling her brother that she is quite the opposite when it comes to seeing their mom and dad, saying she feels “renewed after going and seeing.” To which Grayson Chrisley added, “I do, but I also don’t at the same time.”
“For me, the hard part is I know how much they’ve sacrificed for us. So why can’t we sacrifice now for them?” she said.
In a previous podcast episode, Savannah revealed that her mom and dad have yet to speak to each other since entering their respective prisons. Savannah said over the last four months she has already received 40 to 50 letters from her mother detailing her experience in prison.
And while Chrisley is sharing some of the specifics of those letters, Savannah revealed her mom is scared in prison and she plans on sharing the entirety of her letters someday.
“It was a lot to read, it was tough to see the accounts of her day and just things that she’s scared of or nervous about or just all the thoughts that go through her mind,” Savannah shared. “And not having my dad there with her; that’s the biggest thing.”
“One of the constant themes in all of her messages, like, all of her letters, are ‘I can’t believe Savannah’s having to do this. Like, I can’t believe her life’s having to be put on hold.'”
Savannah Chrisley continued, saying her mom is doing her best to “stay busy. You know, like, she’s trying to do anything and everything, take classes, [be] first at-bat — everything known to man that she can do, she does.”
And although Julie has shared her thoughts in her letters, Savannah believes her mom isn’t being fully transparent. She thinks Julie is “shielding” her “from a lot of things.”
“You know my mom. Like, she walks in a room, if something needs to be done, she just starts doing it. And so she’s trying to stay busy. Her health, she’s trying to focus on that. I think she’s trying to shield us from a lot of things. Because that’s my mom. That’s who she is.”
Savannah admits adjusting to life in prison has been easier for Todd than it has for Julie. “She just kind of sticks to herself. We talk when I come for visitation, and we kind of just take it from there.”
“They’re both in federal prison. So it’s, it just kind of is what it is. That’s our new normal and it’s so hard because people are so hateful on social media. Some of the things people say are just baffling.”
Todd and Julie Chrisley aren’t allowed to talk either. Savannah added that she doesn’t “think there’s a single letter that goes by that she does not say how much she misses my dad. They don’t get to talk.”
“So it’s going on what month are we? April? We’re like three, four, four months in, almost. Being together almost 30 years now and not going a day without speaking to now, going on four months is a lot.”
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