‘I Think of Her Constantly’: Ashley Judd Marks 1st Birthday without Mom Naomi in Emotional Post

Yesterday Ashley Judd was cocooned with love on her first birthday without her mother, Naomi Judd, who died by suicide 11 days after her last birthday. Those who love her made the day "soft" and "precious," treating her to cake in bed.

"I think of her constantly," Ashley Judd wrote on Instagram on April 19, 2023, sharing her birth announcement in Naomi Judd's hand and a photo with her breakfast-in-bed birthday cake. Debra Messing wished her a happy birthday, "It's a hard one. I'm so sorry. She is with you, loving you."

Naomi had an "annual rite of recounting" all the precious details of the day her daughter was born. Last year Ashley's mother and stepdad, Larry Strickland, came over to her home in Tennesee, which is minutes for theirs, for a birthday meal of chicken roast and cornbread.

"We had cake, and in spite of being weak and preoccupied with the disease that was eating at her, she had a gorgeous card for me, and I knew, as ever, how much she loved me," the actress said in the post.

"It's moments like this that we reflect on our mothers most. Sending love," Olympian Lidsay Vonn commented. Journalist Yashar Ali wrote, "Happy birthday, dearest Ashley; thank you for all the wonderful things you bring into this world." Rosie O'Donnell sent "only love."

"She's a beautiful angel protecting you and guiding you from heaven. Sending you all my love! I love you!" a fan account said. An Instagram user commented, "Happy Birthday, beautiful Henny. Thinking of you and sending my love and a big squeeze. Love you."

Ashley Judd Had to Speak on Naomi Judd's Passing "Way Too Soon"

The "Where the Heart Is" actress tweeted the tragic news of Naomi Judd's death on April 30, 2022, a day before the singer was to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with her daughter Wynonna Judd.

Going on "Good Morning America" with Diane Sawyer, Ashley stressed that though it is "obviously way too soon" to speak out, the family decided to do so before details of Naomi's death, such as the autopsy, become public without their "control."

She said that her sister, Wynonna, and stepdad Larry Strickland, who they call Pop, "deputized" her to speak on the family's behalf. The actress disclosed her mother used a firearm to end her life. She emphasized that with mental illness, it's essential to distinguish between a "love one and the disease."

Ashley Judd told The Guardian in January this year that she checked herself into an intensive form of psychotherapy to deal with her grief and the trauma of tabloids sharing graphic details of her mother's suicide.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

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