As access to COVID-19 vaccination grows, the Brothers Osborne were able to have a particularly sweet reunion recently: They got to hug their mom, Trish, for the first time since the onset of the pandemic.
“She’s fully vaccinated and passed her grace period or whatever you need after that. So it’s been nice,” TJ Osborne recounts to Taste of Country Nights. “I went to leave her house, and I was like, ‘Wait, I can hug you!’ I hadn’t touched my mom in, like, over a year. And we went in for a hug, and it was the longest embrace. We’re a big hugging family … especially my mother, and you could tell that just being able to hug her son, it was a big moment for her.”
“It made me quite emotional, honestly,” TJ adds, ”And also, it was just a really good reminder that we are so close to the finish line and we’ve come so far.”
If TJ’s brother and bandmate, John Osborne, had also been visiting their mom that day, he would’ve gotten a hug, too — “I was the only one there,” TJ clarifies — but the brothers are quick to admit that it’s a “running joke” in the family that TJ is the favorite child.
“Running fact in the family,” John counters.
Evidence of TJ being the golden child of the Osborne family continues to mount, especially when their mom decided to adopt a dog. “He’s a little miniature shih tzu, and he’s one of those dogs who has a lot of personality for having no personality. It’s really wild. So she picked this dog out, and the dog’s name is TJ. Literally,” TJ says.
Of course, the family quickly changed the dog’s name to a new moniker that the brothers pronounce “Poochie.” ”But we’ve all determined that [his] name is spelled like Gucci. So it’s P-U-C-C-I,” adds John.
“He loves his name now,” TJ agrees. “But he’s the funniest little dog. I adore him so much.”
Despite the fact that Trish is now fully vaccinated, Brothers Osborne say they probably won’t be bringing her as their plus one to the 2021 ACM Awards next month.
“That’s another [reason why] it’s been so sweet to be around her: Her health has been kinda declining,” TJ says.
“She had a couple really bad falls over quarantine and broke her hip. She’s not able to get around very well,” he continues. “I’m trying to encourage her to do some workouts and I’m gonna try to get her signed up for water aerobics and stuff, because I’m hoping she can at least turn back time a little bit. Because she really can’t walk very far, and those awards shows, it’s a lot of walking.”
Fortunately, the brothers will now be able to take a more hands-on approach to helping their mom recover. Not only is she fully-vaccinated, but they moved her to Nashville back in 2018 in order to be closer to her.
Listen to the Brothers Osborne’s Interview on ToC Nights:
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