
This post deals with suicide, sexual assault and domestic violence, and might be triggering for some readers.
Last week, actor Ashley Judd and her sister, singer Wynonna Judd announced the passing of their mum Naomi Judd, who was a country music legend in the industry.
Naomi was 76 when she took her own life following a longtime struggle with mental illness.
For Ashley and Wynonna, it was unexpected. And with Mother's Day so close to their mum's death, it has been challenging for the sisters.
Penning an open essay, Ashley said that given what her mother experienced throughout her life - unintended teen pregnancy, poverty, gender-based violence - Naomi fought incredibly hard against the hand she was dealt.
Watch: To everyone this Mother's Day. Post continues below.
For Naomi, her early years were challenging.
At the age of 17, Naomi fell pregnant the first time she had sex. Naomi later said that first experience was "a date rape". She gave birth to her eldest daughter Wynonna on the night of her high school graduation.
When Naomi called Wynonna's dad to tell him she was pregnant with his child he said "Well, tough luck, kiddo." He hung up the phone and she never heard from him.
After giving birth to Wynonna, Naomi later she "had to marry the town jerk to have a roof and a name", so she married a man called Michael Ciminella and moved to Los Angeles. The couple then welcomed daughter Ashley in 1968.
Naomi and Michael soon divorced, leaving Naomi to raise her two daughters on her own, working as a receptionist to pay the bills. But the salary wasn't quite enough, Naomi telling the Country Music Success Stories podcast that she was often "a paycheck away from the streets every night".