‘Grief Isn’t Linear’: ‘Bachelor’ Star Bekah Martinez Opens Up About Grandfather’s Murder

Reality TV star Bekah Martinez took to social media earlier this week to talk about the murder of her grandfather, who was killed when she was only a teenager.

Martinez, who appeared on season 22 of “The Bachelor,” on Wednesday shared a photo of her newborn son Franklin James in a traditional cradleboard alongside a second photo of herself as a child — posing alongside her late grandfather. He was killed at the age of 59, when she was 17 years old, she explained in the caption.

“My grandfather (Papa) was indigenous american and would collect traditional baskets and other items like this cradle board. He even taught himself how to weave, and we still have some of his half-finished projects,” she wrote. “I’ve rarely talked about him publicly. We were extremely close and he was murdered when I was 17."

"He was only 59. He was a dreamer and a doer; a maker, an artist. He taught me how to bake Challah bread. Flowers came alive in his hands; he was a master florist. He built a home in the mountains with his own two hands.”

Martinez, 25, came in fifth place during the 2018 season of “The Bachelor.” She shares a 17-month-old daughter, Ruth, with boyfriend Grayston Leonard. The couple welcomed the newest edition to their family, Franklin James, earlier this month.

Reflecting in Wednesday’s Instagram post, Martinez shared that the thought that her beloved grandfather will never get to know her children is a painful one.

“All of the memories with my Papa are the happiest and most magical, but I always cry at the thought that he’ll never meet his great-grandbabies,” she said. “He would have loved to see Franklin like this.”

She went on to explain that “grief isn’t linear,” and she sometimes still struggles with her grandfather’s passing.

“One of the hardest parts of losing someone is losing all the years you expected to have with them,” her caption reads. “You feel robbed of memories that should have been. And grief isn’t linear. Sometimes 8 years feels like a lifetime, and other days like today, it feels like no time at all.”

Martinez also shared a photo of herself on her Instagram stories wearing a turquoise necklace that was “hand-strung by [her] grandpa,” PEOPLE reported.

During her season of “The Bachelor,” Martinez quickly became a fan favorite. The Fresno, California native worked as a nanny prior to her time on the show, an experience she wrote at length about in a piece for Glamour in 2018.

Martinez now has a large social media following, with more than 600,000 followers on Instagram. She also currently co-hosts the “Chatty Broads” podcast.