Yahoo Sports Home Town Star Erin Napier Mourns the Death of Her Grandmother: 'My Heart Is Broken for Us'
HGTV star Erin Napier is in mourning after the passing of her grandmother.
The Home Town designer, 34, shared news of her grandmother's death on Monday, writing in a heartfelt tribute on Instagram, "My sweet grandmother went to heaven today."
Sharing two vintage photos of her grandparents, Napier continued, "My grandfather passed in 2001, and for 19 years she lived without him. I’m so happy that he’s shouting 'here she comes!' today, even if my heart is broken for us without her. My Mother Goose. ❤️."
Napier went on to quote the poem "Gone From My Sight" — also sometimes known as the "Parable of Immortality" and "What Is Dying" — by Rev. Luther F. Beecher.
“I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side, spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other," Napier recited in the caption of her post.
A post shared by Erin Napier (@erinapier) on May 4, 2020 at 12:52pm PDT
"Then, someone at my side says, 'There, she is gone.' Gone where? Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast, hull and spar as she was when she left my side. She is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port. Her diminished size is in me — not in her. And, just at the moment when someone says, 'There, she is gone,' there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, 'Here she comes!'"
Napier did not release any further details about her grandmother's death, though she did post a photo of her wearing a family heirloom that belonged to the late matriarch on her Instagram Story.
"My grandmother's ring," she captioned the shot. Just aquamarine and 12k gold. But so precious to me."
Erin Napier/instagram
Napier previously told PEOPLE that family is a very important part of her life.
“When there is no show and no one cares who we are anymore, all we have left is us as a family,” the star, who shares 2-year-old daughter Helen with husband Ben, said. “So staying healthy and happy is our number one priority. Everything else has to come behind that.”
Napier's popular home improvement series follows her and her husband as they pursue their passion: returning Laurel, a southern Mississippi town of about 18,000, to its former glory. The couple have since launched the spinoff Home Town Takeover, two retail stores, a book and a furniture line.
“If you never think of yourself as famous, nothing changes,” Napier said. “Making the show is a really fun job and we’re lucky. We’ve been amazed by all of it.”
