Todd and Julie Chrisley’s teenage son Grayson opens up with older sister Savannah on her “Unlocked” podcast about how hard it’s been with both of his parents in prison.
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Nearly six months since they reported to prison to begin their respective sentences for bank fraud and tax evasion, the teenage son of Todd and Julie Chrisley is talking about how hard it’s been without them.
Grayson Chrisley, 17, sat down with older sister Savannah, 25, on the latest episode of her “Unlocked” podcast, where he made a strong statement about how difficult it’s been with his parents still here, but also not at all there.
“To me, it’s worse than them dying,” he told his sister. “Because they’re here, but they’re not here. So it’s just time that’s being wasted. I’m saying, like, if they died, there’s no possibility of you getting any more time with them. So it’s over.”
Savannah noted that he was talking about “closure,” with him agreeing that there’s no “wasted time” when they’re gone, while he feels like there’s so much of it now. Savannah is now Grayson’s guardian, along with her ten-year-old niece, Chloe, who the Chrisleys had taken in.
As for their parents, Savannah pointed out to Grayson that even though they’re behind bars, she believes it’s better that they’re still here because they’re still able to tell their kids they love them and can hug them. “It’s a tarnished silver lining for the teen, though, as he noted each meeting has a time limit.
It’s easy to understand his frustration as he’s at such a formative stage of life, coming into adulthood. Julie is serving the shorter sentence, but she’s still set to serve seven years, which will put him in his mid-20s when she gets out. He’ll be nearly 30 by the time his father is free.
Grayson also shared that the attempts to ensure one parent has a vistir every weekend is “impossible to keep up, with them incarcerated in different states (Julie is in Lexington, Kentucky, while Todd is in Pensacola, Florida — a 15-hour total drive).
Those trips are also emotionally draining for him. “I’m good Saturday,” he said. “Sunday is when it hits me. And then Sunday to Thursday is bad, and then we go on Friday again and it’s just the same thing again.”
“I struggle going back to back weeks because I’m in that mood,” he added. “Then I go and start it all over again. You never really get out of it … some days or weeks are harder than others.
It’s a cycle he finds draining, whereas his sister said she finds herself feeling “renewed” when she sees them.
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Savannah Chrisley Details Struggle to Raise Brother and Niece While Parents Are in Prison
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Grayson also acknowledged that as a teenager, he has mixed feelings. His parents are encouraging him to live his life, but he feels guilty when he doesn’t visit — and at the same time, sometimes he doesn’t want to go.
“You know they understand, but it’s like, you still feel bad,” he said.
And then when he doesn’t visit them one weekend, Savannah noted that their schedules get out of alignment “and then you don’t see one of them for three or four weeks and then you’re struggling because you haven’t seen [them] for that long.”
“It’s like, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Grayson agreed. He also said that he thinks it’s impossible not to feel a little bitter about the situation.
“There’s always going to be a part of you that is bitter,” he admitted. “There’s no way around it. It’s gonna suck for as long as they’re there.”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
