Ashley Judd Honors Naomi Judd In Emotional Essay About First Mother's Day Without Mom

Ashley Judd remembered her mom, Naomi Judd, as the actress marks her first Mother's Day without the country music legend.

Ashley and her sister, Wynonna Judd, lost their mother to "the disease of mental illness" at the age of 76 on April 30. The "Double Jeopardy" star, who is also a humanitarian and writer, opened up about the prospect of her first Mother's Day without her mom by her side in a moving essay she penned for USA Today Friday.

The 54-year-old actress noted that the holiday "wasn't supposed to be this way," adding, "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," she continued. "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 described the late singer as an "extraordinary parent under duress." For the actress, the greatest lesson she learned from Naomi was the power of having a voice and using it.

But according to the "High Crimes" star, Naomi had an "unintended pregnancy" when she was 17 years old, and that "led her down a road familiar to so many adolescent mothers, including poverty and gender-based violence."

Before her death last month, Naomi had been open about her mental health struggles. In 2016, she told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview that she had been diagnosed with severe depression and had spent time in psychiatric hospitals. She said she was confronting lingering issues from her childhood as part of her therapy, including being molested by a relative when she was 3.

"My mother was stolen from me by the disease of mental illness, by the wounds she carried from a lifetime of injustices that started when she was a girl. Because she was a girl," Ashley wrote.

The "All That is Bitter & Sweet" author noted that risks do not start and end with pregnancy. She cited data from the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, which found that nearly a quarter of women in countries with available data cannot say no to sex and cannot make their own decisions about their health care.

Ashley wrote that this has led to motherhood often being the product of violence, neglect and the failure of school and health systems to provide women reproductive health information.

"My mama was a legend," Ashley wrote. "She was an artist and a storyteller, but she had to fight like hell to overcome the hand she was dealt, to earn her place in history. She shouldn’t have had to fight that hard to share her gifts with the world."

The actress concluded her essay on a touching note, writing that she will continue to honor her mother this Mother's Day and that she encourages those who can to do the same.

"Honor her for more than her labor and sacrifice," she wrote. "Honor her for her talents and dreams. Honor her by demanding a world where motherhood, everywhere, is safe, healthy – and chosen."

Naomi passed away one day before The Judds, a country music duo she formed with daughter Wynonna, were to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Per the family’s request, the medallion ceremony on May 1 in Nashville, Tennessee, proceeded as planned, with both sisters honoring their mother at the event.

"My momma loved you so much, and she appreciated your love for her. I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today," Ashley said in her speech. "Your esteem for her and regard for her really penetrated her heart, and it was your affection for her that did keep her going in these last few years."

Following the ceremony, Ashley shared another tribute to her late mother on Instagram alongside a series of poignant photos.