Less than two weeks after sharing the news of her brother Michael's death, the Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond was back on the road. Thankfully, her husband Ladd was by her side the entire time.

On Instagram, Drummond shares how her husband drove her from their ranch in Pawhuska, Okla. to Dallas to do a signing at a book store. He recognized she was too tired to drive, but may have also sensed she needed even more.

"He also came to the bookstore to check on me and wound up signing books and taking pics once the signing was over," she writes. That's not all.

"And when he stopped to fill up on the drive home the next morning, he bought me a Diet Dr. Pepper and a string cheese," she gushes. "Find a partner who will drive you and buy you cheese when you need it most, is what I’m saying."

Photos from the Pioneer Woman's Instagram page show Ree and Ladd in action, posing with fans and signing autographs. Today points out she was signing The Pioneer Woman Cooks — Super Easy!: 120 Shortcut Recipes for Dinners, Desserts and More.

It's been a roller coaster of a year for the family, starting with Ladd's accident in March. He fractured his neck in an automobile accident outside the family ranch. As he recovered, their daughter Alex married, and they celebrated before taking a couples vacation.

Then tragedy struck again with Michael's death at a young age. Local news outlet KTUL shares that Michael Smith was a fixture of the community who loved to attend basketball, football and baseball games. He had special needs and worked in his dad's office, and he loved to be social and meet new friends.

"It isn't possible to sum up the life of someone as perfectly wonderful as my brother Michael, so right now I won't try," Drummond wrote on Facebook. "He was seventeen months older than me, my first friend and buddy, and I'm so grateful for over 50 years of photos and memories."

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