Alan Jackson’s daughter, Mattie Jackson, found love again after her first husband, Ben Selecman, died in a tragic accident. But she’s never forgotten the impact he had on her.
Though she has since remarried (she and husband Connor Smith tied the knot in 2023), Ben is still very much a part of her life.
September 12, 2024, marks six years since Ben Selecman died after slipping on boat dock in Florida and hitting his head. The fall resulted in brain injuries he couldn’t overcome.
On Thursday, in Ben’s memory, Mattie reflected on what the six years past have meant to her.
“I’ve probably shared this photo before, but I look back at it every year on this day and hold it so near to my heart,” she writes on Instagram.
The photo she’s referring to shows her and Ben walking together, hand in hand, on a boat dock. It’s a picturesque shot, with boats surrounding them and the sun shining over the ocean.
“It was the last picture we have together before his accident,” she continues, “And I can’t help but see now how the Lord had already opened up the heavens to welcome him home.”
She muses on the fragility of life and other lives we might live after we’re gone from the earth. See her post here.
“This summer more than any other time, I’ve begged the Lord to let Ben see the outrageous goodness and joy in my life these days,” Mattie says. “To see my dreams of a *second* book coming true; to see how incredibly well Connor loves me; to see me learning to be a mom like I always prayed to. And I believe he can.”
A year after marrying Connor Smith, the couple welcomed Wesley Alan Smith into the world on June 20, 2024.
“Thank you Lord ‘that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed.’ Thank you for love (yours and others’) that never ends,” Mattie — who’s Alan Jackson’s oldest of three daughters — concludes.
She recently released a new book also reflecting on her journey as a widow and finding love again, Through The Valley of Grief. It’s intended to encourage others who have experienced heartbreak and are looking to God to find peace.
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