Kris Jenner’s Mother MJ Dies: Kardashian, Jenner Kids’ Bond With Grandma

Kim Kardashian didn’t mean to follow in her grandmother Mary Jo “MJ” Shannon‘s footsteps in this particular way, but she relished being able to compare notes.

“I just found this pic of my beautiful grandma MJ at her 1st wedding,” Kim, whose 2011 marriage to Kris Humphries infamously lasted 72 days, shared on Instagram in 2018. “It lasted just 2.5 months and her family spent all they had on this wedding. She felt so bad but followed her heart. Kinda sounds familiar lol.”

But such was an anecdote that Kim and her maternal grandmother could laugh about, one of countless bonding moments between MJ and her seven grandchildren, including her late daughter Karen Houghton‘s only daughter, Natalie Zettel.

Sadly, Kris Jenner shared July 16 that her mother died just a couple weeks shy of her 92nd birthday, meaning the Kardashian-Jenner family are now mourning their matriarch.

In paying tribute to her “best friend, my gossip buddy, my forever twin” in a July 16 tribute, Kim wrote that MJ “taught all of us the importance of family, and those values are something we’ll carry with us forever!!!!!”

And she endlessly cherished her grandma in life, as well.