The ‘Gut-Wrenching’ Text Bristol Palin Received From Her 15-Year-Old Son Tripp

Earlier this month, Bristol Palin revealed her son, Tripp had moved back to Alaska to live with his father and to finish up high school up north. Since sharing the news, Bristol, 33, has revealed how quickly the decision unfolded.

In an interview on Cheryl Burke’s Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast that aired Monday, August 26, the Teen Mom OG alum — who lives in Austin, Texas, with her two younger children— shared that Tripp, 15, informed her of his decision via text.

“He just texted me and was like, ‘Hey Mom, I’m not coming back,'” she shared. “This devastated Bristol, who said she considered flying to Alaska from Texas to pick up her son and bring him back home.”

“At first I’m like, ‘I’m coming up to Alaska. We’re not doing this,” Palin recalled. “I was so mad, so mad.”

Bristol, who is the daughter of 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, shares Tripp with her ex, Levi Johnston. She is also the mother of Sailor Grace, 8, Atlee Bay, 7, whom shares with her ex-husband, Dakota Meyer. According to Bristol, she and Tripp have always had a close bond, which made setting him free all the more difficult.

“It still is gut-wrenching to me,” Bristol, who welcomed Tripp with Johnston when she was just 18 years old, divulged. “It’s been just Tripp and I, and then I had my girls, but it’s always been Tripp and I. It’s changed the dynamic of so much.”

The mother of three has previously said that Tripp enjoys outdoor activities, and therefore, will enjoy his time in Alaska. But she’ll still miss him dearly, and hopes the coming school year goes by quickly.

“It’s one of those things where he’s almost 16. He does need his dad. And he needs that relationship,” Bristol continued. “He thinks that this is best right now, and all I can do is just hope and pray that it is what’s best.”