sister wivesPoor Meri. Anybody who's watched even a few random episodes of Sister Wives knows the first Mrs. Kody Brown has had a rough time -- from the infertility to the miscarriage to her struggles staying connected to Kody despite his ever-expanding collection of wives. But the heartache doesn't end there.

While answering a viewer question on last night's episode, Meri revealed yet another piece of her tragic past: A sister who died of cancer, leaving four children behind. "I can't believe this still gets me," Meri said as she broke down in tears. But her emotional moment brought yet another interesting aspect of the polygamous lifestyle to light.

The viewer question was about what would happen if one of the wives died -- where would her children go? That's how Meri's late sister came up: She was also in a plural marriage, and when she died, another one of the wives took her four children in and continues to raise them as her own. Meri remains grateful.

"If something happened to me, I would definitely have Mariah stay with these ladies," she said.

I have to admit, I never thought about having people to raise my kids after I die as being a built-in benefit to polygamy before, but clearly that would be a comfort to any dying mother (assuming she liked her sister wives!) -- not to mention a comfort to any child who's just lost a mother.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still personally not down with the whole polygamy scene, but I feel like I have a better understanding of Meri now. And my heart, as ever, goes out to her.

Have you ever thought about what would happen to your kids if you died?