“Be free, my beautiful mother. Be free”: Ashley Judd shares moving post in honor of mother Naomi Judd

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Jason Kempin/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Ashley Judd is taking a walk down memory lane as she reflects on the passing of her mother, Naomi Judd

The actress took to Instagram following The Judds‘ induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame to share how the family has been honoring the memory of Naomi, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 76 due to mental illness. 

In the loving post, Ashley shared a photo of her and sister Wynonna Judd with their backs to the camera, looking at the bronze plaque of The Judds that sits in the rotunda at the Country Music Hall of Fame, along with a photo of Carly Pearce performing at the ceremony. 

Ashley then takes viewers inside the Judds’ home, sharing a photo of the altar she created in her mother’s honor that includes a picture of her silhouette from when she was 11 years old, surrounded by flowers and a book titled Grief Therapy. She also shares a video of Naomi’s husband, Larry Strickland, singing “How Great Thou Art,” along with a throwback photo from childhood of the sisters with their mom at Little Cat Creek in their home state of Kentucky. 

“Speechless,” Ashley begins in the caption. “Your outpouring is reaching me. Thank you for every thought, prayer, message, text, email, post, expression. We each are alone and we are in fellowship, broken and held, protected from nothing and sustained in everything. It’s the beginning of an old story, life and death, loss and life. Be free, my beautiful mother. Be free.” 

Ashley and Wynonna were both present at the Country Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Nashville Sunday, where they paid a tearful tribute to their late mother, who died one day before the event.

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