Bachelor vet Bekah Martinez reveals her grandfather was murdered when she was only 17: ‘He’ll never meet his great-grandbabies’
Bekah Martinez revealed on Wednesday that her grandfather was murdered when she was a teenager.
The former Bachelor contestant shared the sad information in a moving post featuring her one-month-old son Franklin James on an indigenous cradle board collected years earlier by her grandfather.
The 25-year-old posed with her smiling grandfather in a cute photo from her childhood.
Sad story: Bekah Martinez, 25, shared on Wednesday that her grandfather was murdered when she was only 17. She described his interest in collecting indigenous artifacts
Little Bekah had a tasty-looking loaf of Challah in her hands that she had already had a bite of.
Her grandfather smiled playfully while standing behind her and holding her shoulders.
‘My grandfather (Papa) was indigenous american and would collect traditional baskets and other items like this cradle board. He even taught himself how to weave, and we still have some of his half-finished projects,’ she wrote in the caption.
Her baby Franklin dozed adorably in the intricate wooden board, which had a decorative canopy to shade his head and multicolored knit straps to hold the swaddled child tightly in place.
Peaceful: Bekah shared an adorable photo of her one-month-old son Franklin dozing in an indigenous cradle board collected by her grandfather
‘I’ve rarely talked about him publicly. We were extremely close and he was murdered when I was 17. He was only 59. He was a dreamer and a doer; a maker, an artist. He taught me how to bake Challah bread. Flowers came alive in his hands; he was a master florist. He built a home in the mountains with his own two hands,’ she continued.
‘All of the memories with my Papa are the happiest and most magical, but I always cry at the thought that he’ll never meet his great-grandbabies. He would have loved to see Franklin like this.
‘One of the hardest parts of losing someone is losing all the years you expected to have with them. You feel robbed of memories that should have been. And grief isn’t linear. Sometimes 8 years feels like a lifetime, and other days like today, it feels like no time at all.’
Memories: Earlier on Wednesday, the reality star looked somber as she showed off a vibrant turquoise necklace ‘hand-strung’ by her grandfather
Mother and son time: The mother of two got in some quality time with her son as he slept on her chest in another snap
Earlier on Wednesday, Bekah posted a closeup selfie to her Instagram Stories that may have inspired the post about her grandfather.
She gazed somberly into the camera with her head tilted while wearing a white camisole and vibrant turquoise necklace that had been ‘hand-strung’ by her grandfather.
The reality TV star also got some close time with Franklin as the adorable tot snoozed on her chest.
Better late than never: Last month, it took Bekah and her boyfriend Grayston Leonard five days to name Franklin after he was born. They also share a 17-month-old daughter named Ruth
Last month, it took Bekah five days after Franklin was born before she and her boyfriend Grayston Leonard settled on a name for him.
The couple also share a 17-month-old daughter named Ruth.
Earlier this week, Bekah made light of the fact that her daughter was still nursing.
‘Never made plans to nurse this long, but never made plans to wean,’ she joked on Instagram.
The Bachelor contestant made light of Ruth’s continued nursing this week. ‘Never made plans to nurse this long, but never made plans to wean,’ she joked on Instagram