Ashley Judd Hopes Mom Naomi 'Let Go of Any Guilt or Shame' Before She Died

etonline.com:

Ashley Judd is offering new insight into her relationship with her late mother, Naomi Judd, who died by suicide in April at age 76.

During an interview on the , Ashley opened up about her mom's struggle with mental illness and how that affected how she and her sister, Wynonna Judd, were raised.«I look back on my childhood and I realize I grew up with a mom who had an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness,» Judd told grief expert David Kessler. «And 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 that she was in pain and can today understand that she was absolutely doing the best she could, and if she could have done it differently, she would have.»Ashley went on to share that she hopes Naomi was at peace with her past 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.» During the podcast interview, Ashley noted that she knows she «didn't cause» her mother's battle with mental illness, and also that she «couldn't control it» or «cure it.»As for how she, Wynonna and Naomi's widow, Larry Strickland, have been dealing with the loss, Ashley shared, «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.