"I am unmoored": Ashley Judd's sweet tribute to her late mother
Ashley Judd has honoured her late mother in a heartwarming op-ed just a week after her death.
Naomi Judd, one half of the duo The Judds, died at the age of 76 on April 30 following a battle with depression and mental illness.
“My mama was an extraordinary parent under duress: She showed my sister and me the power of having a voice and using it, and there has been no greater lesson,” Ashley wrote in USA Today.
“It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I was supposed to visit her on Sunday, to give her a box of old-fashioned candy, our family tradition.
“We were supposed to have sweet delight in each others’ easy presence. Instead, I am unmoored. But my heart is not empty. It is replete with gratitude for what she left behind. Her nurture and tenderness, her music and memory.”
Ashley and Wynonna teared up as they made an emotional acceptance speech at the Country Music Hall of Fame induction on the Monday following their mother’s passing.
“I didn’t prepare anything tonight because I knew mum would probably talk the most,” Wynonna said.
“I’m gonna make this fast, because my heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed. It’s a very strange dynamic, to be this broken and this blessed.”
The sisters also quoted Psalm 23, a common hymn for funeral services.
“My mama loved you so much and I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today,” Ashley began.
“Your esteem for her and your regard for her really penetrated her heart, and it was your affection for her that did keep her going in the last years, and please come see Pop,” she continued in reference to her stepfather and Naomi’s husband Larry Strickland.
“While this is so much about the Judds as a duo, I want to take a moment to recognise my sister, a GOAT.”
Wynonna then jumped in: “Though my heart is broken, I will continue to sing.”
Naomi and daughter Wynonna, began singing together as a professional act in the early 1980s.
They produced major hits loved by fans all over the world including "Mama He's Crazy" and "Love Can Build a Bridge”.
Image: Getty