Ashley Judd is putting her emotions into words. The Hollywood star has penned a heartbreaking essay about her first Mother’s Day without her mother, Naomi Judd. The country singer died from suicide last week. Here’s what you need to know.
Ashley penned her essay for USA Today, in which she asked her fans to help make Naomi’s legacy by making motherhood both “safe and healthy.”
Ashley Judd Pens Heartbreaking Essay Following Mother Naomi Judd’s Death
The actress wrote, “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. But motherhood happened to her without her consent. She experienced an unintended pregnancy at age 17, and that led her down a road familiar to so many adolescent mothers, including poverty and gender-based violence.”
She also added, “Motherhood should always be a choice. Does that sound radical to you? Does that sound like I wish my sister and I hadn’t been born? If that’s what you think, I will gladly direct my incandescent rage at you.”
Ashley continued, “I am not a biological mother. I wanted to devote my time and resources to children who live in poverty and suffering, who languish in refugee camps and wait in brothels to come of age when men will begin to rape them. I never took my bodily autonomy for granted, aware this right is denied to hundreds of millions of girls and women, especially the poorest and those facing discrimination and racial injustice.”
Last week and in a statement that they shared on social media, Wynonna and Ashley Judd said: “Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
Naomi Judd had been due to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame alongside her daughter Wynonna. The ceremony in Nashville is to proceed and Wynonna Judd is expected to attend. The mother-daughter performers scored 14 No. 1 songs in a career that spanned nearly three decades. After rising to the top of country music, they called it quits in 1991 after doctors diagnosed Naomi Judd with hepatitis. Wynonna continued her solo career.
Daily Soap Dish fans, let us know what you think by dropping us a line with your thoughts in our comments section below. Also, don’t forget that we are your source for all of the latest celebrity news right here. What’s more, we’ve also got spoilers for your favorite daytime television soaps, which include ‘The Young and the Restless’, ‘The Bold and the Beautiful’, ‘General Hospital’ and ‘Days of Our Lives’.