Craig Morgan Says He and His Family Have to ‘Live with the Suck’ of Losing Son Jerry, 19, ‘for the Rest of Our Lives’

Country singer Craig Morgan has done his very best to live with loss after the death of his 19-year-old son Jerry nearly 10 years ago.

Morgan, 61, reflected on Jerry’s tragic 2016 death in an episode of Bunnie Xo’s Dumb Blonde podcast on Nov. 30, saying that he stopped trying to search for answers as to why he lost Jerry and started learning to accept what had happened.

“A lot of people seek out the reason why God let that happen. Was it because of this? Was it because of the charity that was established in his name that’s going to help all these kids? I don’t do that. I can’t. ‘Cause you will chase that s— forever,” he said. “All you’re doing is looking for justification. And for me, there is no justification. He’s gone, and that’s it.”

Morgan said that his youngest child said it best: “We just have to live with the suck for the rest of our lives.”

“We miss him. But my faith in God will not waver. But it doesn’t mean that you don’t have bad days. I think there’s moments in your life where you’re supposed to question Him,” Morgan said through tears. “I think when you question God, your faith grows, because He educates you. Sometimes it just takes really s—ty things.”

Jerry, the second oldest of Morgan’s four children with his wife Karen, died in a tubing accident on Kentucky Lake in Humphreys County, Tennessee in July 2016.

Three months later, Morgan released the song “The Father, My Son and the Holy Ghost.” He told Bunnie that he never had any intention of actually releasing the song, but knows that “God wanted people to hear that.”

In Jerry’s obituary, his family announced that they’d established the Jerry Greer Memorial Scholarship in order to help future athletes at Dickson County High School, his alma mater.

Morgan spoke to PEOPLE in 2022 about losing Jerry, and said he and Karen buried their son on their property in Tennessee, right near their family chapel. The chapel also included a tribute to the star athlete — a 13 on the roof overhang, as it was his favorite number.

“We all laugh and cry every Christmas, every holiday, every time we’re together. My wife is an expert at making sure to incorporate him in every conversation that we have when we’re with the rest of the family. My son told us that they were pregnant a while back, and my wife’s like, ‘Jerry would be a good middle name,'” Morgan said. “Jerry’s not here, but he is not gone. He lives in our hearts and heads and always will.””