'Welcome to Plathville': Does Kim tell the truth about Joshua's death to her little children?
The Plath family functions on a different level. They live a secluded life and pride themselves on having a completely unique order of living. In addition to this, they have suffered tragedies, some of which they have openly shared. One such incident happens to be the death of their son Joshua, who died in an accident when he was 15 months old. It's been 12 years since he has been gone but the parents — Kim and Barry — still remember him and shed a tear or two.
In this week's episode of 'Welcome to Plathville', the conversation about Joshua comes up again. The little ones — Amber, 11; Cassia, 9, and Mercy, 7 — ask Kim how their brother Joshua died. Kim, in the preview clip, tells the children that "if there was one moment in my life that I could live over and redo, that was it." At this point, it cannot be said if she told them the real reason why their brother wasn't around yet. It could be because they are too young to handle the truth.
Kim, on the Plath family website, shared that she had accidentally run over her son while planting trees. It was the fall of 2008, she wrote, and added that she was pregnant with their eighth child when planting fruit trees.
"I looked for our 17-month old Joshua, saw that he was away from the vehicle, then pulled forward to get the next tree. In a panic, I realized what had happened. I ran over our Joshua," she recalled in her note.
She continued that she would have been a lot harsher if it would have been Barry in her place. For the longest time, it was "hell on Earth" for her and even though she woke up every morning hoping to function through the day, she would want to die.
Kim and Barry have a quiet chat in the woods about Joshua and how everyone in the family should go to the cemetery together. The couple is probably looking for closure or maybe they just want each other to remember him fondly.
Catch all the new episodes of 'Welcome to Plathville' on TLC every Tuesday at 10/9c. For more information, check your local listings.