Wynonna Judd and Naomi Judd.Photo: Jeff Kravitz/Getty
Wynonna Judd’s 6-month-old granddaughter plays an important role in her life as the musician continues to mourn the loss of her mom,Naomi.
The country singer, 58, appeared onTodayMonday where she sat down withHoda Kotbto discuss her ongoing tour, The Judds: The Final Tour, and how she’s coping with the loss of her mother, whodied in April at 76following a long struggle with mental health.
Asked who is Judd’s “rock” through this difficult period, the singer said her granddaughter, Kaliyah.
“She’s 6 months old and she doesn’t speak yet but she looks right through me,” said Judd.
“She gives me hope,” she told Kotb. “Your daughter’s name is Hope, you know that. They give you hope; they give you something to think about other than yourself. Because so much of what we do is about us, so it’s nice to be with her because she doesn’t care what I look like.”
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Judd announced the birth of her first grandchild in May onInstagram, sharing that Kaliyah was born on April 13, just two weeks and two days before the death of Naomi.
“In order to be a healthier grandparent to my firstborn grandchild Kaliyah, {born 4/13, 2 weeks & 2 days before Mom left}, to break the cycle of addiction & family dysfunction, that I must continue to show up for myself {first} and do the personal healing work,” she wrote at the time.
Wynonna Judd.Jim Wright
Reminiscing on a favorite memory of time spent with Naomi, Judd recalled a sweet moment they shared before a performance. “We have it all. We have [six] Grammys. We have millions of records sold. We have everything, and she’s in her sparkly, queen-of-everything outfit,” said the musician. “She takes my hand, and she says, ‘Because of you, my life has been better.’ I will never forget that.”
Looking back on times like those help Judd to process the negative feelings that’ve followed Naomi’s death.
“Somebody said, ‘Are you angry?’ I said, ‘Hell, yeah. I’m angry. My granddaughter was born 12 days before she left. I have anger,’ but then I realized after the compassion and all the pieces, that there’s some real joy there and to celebrate the joy as much as I can,” said Judd. “That’s part of the reason I’m doing the tour.”
source: people.com
