Sarah Palin Gets Emotional While Reflecting on the Future of Her Son Trig's Life (VIDEO)
On 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' (Sun., 9PM ET on TLC), Sarah Palin's family travels to Bristol Bay, Alaska. During the trip, there's a lot of symbolism going on. The family celebrates daughter Willow's birthday, which takes place over Fourth of July weekend. In addition, the name "Bristol Bay" inspired Sarah to call her daughter Bristol. But there's more ... Eldest son Track has returned from a tour of duty in Iraq. He wants to join the fishing industry, which his dad, Todd Palin, used to work in. Bristol Bay has the largest salmon fishery in the world -- and is home to five generations of Todd's family. (This is a lot of symbolism, right?) Now, it's time to do some fishin'! And how does that go? Not so well, actually ...
To break even, Track needs to catch 3,000 pounds of a salmon a day. Instead, he catches almost nothing. He and his dad give up and head to shore. "A big part of being a fisherman is knowing when to cut bait and run," Sarah says. Next, the family crosses the bay to visit Todd's cousin Ina, who has a son named Matthew. And Matt suffers from Down's Syndrome -- just like Trig, Sarah's youngest son.
While meeting Matthew, Sarah thinks about what Trig's life will one day be like. Seeing Matt is like seeing part of her son's future. Matthew is a decade older than Trig, and he loves flying in the family plane. Sarah cries as she reflects on this.
When her son was born, Sarah wondered what Trig would be able to do when he grew up. This was her husband's reply: "He's going to come flying with me, and he's going to love it." Ms. Palin wept as she recalled these words, and she also gave Matthew a kiss as he sat in his airplane. Though 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' was pitched as unfiltered documentary, this was the most intimate moment we've seen thus far.
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