he goes, "yeah, yeah." i could tell he was in shock. >> reporter: the news hit zach griffith particularly hard. since coming out to his mother, his relationship with her had been strained, and now this -- i guess you're just beating yourself up something terrible, that you'd been sideways with her -- >> yeah. and i know that if we were just given more time, that we would've been close again, that we would've been, you know -- that mom and son duo that we were. but we just -- we didn't have the time. it was ripped away from us and never get it back. >> reporter: aaron, the elder son, had more of a "take charge" reaction. >> i gotta take care of my brother. i gotta take care of my dad. >> reporter: you got logistics before grief? >> yeah. >> reporter: the news didn't even get absorbed? >> yeah. yeah. for me -- that's just kind of the way my brain is wired, i guess. >> reporter: within hours, the griffiths would head from all directions toward what used to be an anchor in their lives -- the family home. >> i just gave my dad a big hug, and we were both crying and we were like, "i can't believe