Ashley Judd opened up about the devastating death of her mother, the singer Naomi Judd, who committed herself at the age of 76 only three months prior.
In an interview for the podcast “Healing With David Kessler,” Judd spoke candidly about the many ramifications of grief —she and other family members have gone through— and the treatment for mental illness her mother did and didn’t seek.
The heartbreaking news of her mother’s death was announced on April 30. Ashley later disclosed on Good Morning America that her mother had died of a self-inflicted firearm wound.
“It was abrupt and painful and my world is upside-down,” Ashley told David Kessler about how she is coping with her mother’s death.
The Double Jeopardy star also discussed how their relationship changed over time, saying she now has a better understanding of the struggles her mother faced.
“I look back on my childhood and I realize I grew up with a mom who had an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness,” Ashley said, “There are different behavioral expressions, interactions, flights of fancy, choices that she made that I understand were an expression of the disease, and I understand that and know she was in pain and can today understand she was absolutely doing the best she could, and if she could have done it differently, she would have.”
Ashley continued by expressing her wish that Naomi had made peace with her before her death.
“My most ardent wish for my mother is that when she transitioned, she was hopefully able to let go of any guilt or shame that she carried for any shortcomings she may have had in her parenting of my sister and me,” she explained. “Because, certainly on my end, all was forgiven long ago.”
Ashley talked about how she, Wynonna, and Naomi Strickland’s widow have been dealing with the loss, “One of the things that I think we have done well as a family, meaning my pop, my sister, Wynonna, and me, is we have really given each other the dignity and the allowance to grieve in our individual and respective ways. And yet we’ve been able to completely stick together. So we can be at the same supper table and recognize, ‘Oh, this one’s in anger, this one’s in denial, this one’s in bargaining, this one’s in acceptance, I’m in shock right now,” The star shared.
Ashley said, she and Strickland has channeled new routines to get through their feelings, “We don’t try to control or redirect or dictate how the other one should be feeling at any particular moment,”
“And I have had some of the most sacred and holy experiences with my pop. He, you know, my mom and pop and I are neighbors, and sister looks over the hill, and pop comes over every morning. I take care of myself first. I wake up and I do my readings and my writing and my meditation practice and connect with my partner. And then pop comes over and I make his coffee and his breakfast and we sit and we grieve together,” she said.
Ashley said she gave Strickland a “notebook one morning and now he’s got his practice of writing and I mean, it’s just those times are so holy and we may be in slightly different places and still we’re in community.” Ashley continued, “He might cry, I might cry, we might just speak.”
Ashley admitted during the podcast interview that she “couldn’t control it” or “heal” her mother’s battle with mental illness and that she “didn’t cause” it.
“When we’re talking about mental illness, it’s very important to be clear and to make the distinction between our loved one and the disease,” she said at the time. “It’s very real, and it lies, it’s savage.”
Watch it here: Youtube/Entertainment Tonight
Sources: Dailywire, Pagesix, Variety
