Read Loretta Lynn’s Words About Her Oldest Son on the Anniversary of His Death [Photos]

It's officially been 39 years since Loretta Lynn mourned the death of her eldest son, Jack Benny Lynn - and this year's anniversary of his death also marks the first since the country legend's death in October 2022.

"It was 39 years ago that we lost Jack Benny. Nothing was more impactful in Loretta's life," a statement on her social media reads, along with a series of family photos featuring Jack. "It's one of the few pains in life that she said hurt too much to write a song about.

"However, she always was willing to talk about her oldest boy and wanted to remember him every year," the message continues. "She thought it was so important to keep the memory alive of those we've loved and lost."

Jack Benny was born in December 1949 and died on July 22, 1984 at the age of 34. A blacksmith who trained horses, Jack on the Lynn family's Hurricane Mills ranch property when he attempted to ford Duck River on horseback and drowned. He was the first of Lynn's six children to die, but tragically, he wouldn't be the last child the country singer was forced to bury before her own death. Betty Sue Lynn, Jack's older sister and Lynn's first child, died of emphysema in 2013.

Though Lynn wasn't alive to write her own remembrance post of Jack in 2023, her team carried on the tradition in accordance with her wishes, including a link to a tribute the singer herself wrote on the anniversary of his death in 2022.

"It about killed me when I lost him," Lynn wrote at that time. "My team asked me if we should keep posting each year on the anniversary of his death and I say, 'Absolutely.' I love it when we remember him. I love hearing his name, stories about him, and seeing that others haven't forgotten him. I miss him terribly. I think of him [every] single day -- whether anyone mentions him or not."

Elsewhere in her post, Lynn reflected on the special grief of losing a child. "Only mommas who have walked this road understand," she wrote.

"There are no words, but when we look each other in the eyes, we know. We feel it. Words can't touch grief that goes so deep. It's a grief that tortures you until you wish you were dead, but it leaves you suffering," she continued. "There's no magic formula to getting through it; you just do. Day, by day, by day. You cry. You pray. Jesus got me through. I can't explain it but he did. The fact that I survived is a miracle to itself."

Amid your continuing grief, Lynn also spoke about her happiest memories with her son. "That boy had my heart. He looked like his daddy. He was quiet. An outdoorsman. A looker. If I didn't know better, I'd say he was born on a horse," she reflected.

"...I thank God for the years I had with Jack. He's been gone longer now than we had him. I still love him more than ever," Lynn wrote at the conclusion of her post. "Thirty eight years can't lessen a mama's love. I miss you, Jack Benny."

Unimaginable Pain: Country Singers Who Have Lost a Child: