"I look back and just wish I had been holding her and comforting her instead of pushing her. I don't know if that would've helped, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt," he shared.
Country music icon Naomi Judd passed away at the age of 76 on April 30, 2022. Fans are still reeling from the loss of the Kentucky-born singer of the Grammy-winning duo The Judds, who tragically died by suicide. "Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public," the statement from Naomi's daughters, Ashley and Wynonna, read at the time of her death. "We are in unknown territory."
Judd's husband of 32 years, Larry Strickland—who is also a singer—honored his late wife by singing How Great Thou Art in a short video post her death. Strickland and Judd got married in 1989 and were gearing up to celebrate their 33rd anniversary on May 6, 2022.
The grieving husband reflected on the final months leading up to his wife's death. "It was a very chaotic, hectic, hectic time," the 76-year-old told PEOPLE. "It was extremely hard. She had several therapists that she was seeing, and her energy level had gotten really low. She was getting really weak."
Judd's death followed a long battle with anxiety and severe depression. "Nobody can understand it unless you've been there," she previously told the outlet. "Think of your very worst day of your whole life–someone passed away, you lost your job, you found out you were being betrayed, that your child had a rare disease– you can take all of those at once and put them together and that's what depression feels like."
Being a caregiver for someone with mental illness has its own share of difficulties. One always wonders if what they're doing is the best for their loved one who is going through such a hard time. Strickland felt the same. "I just feel like I might have overdone it," the former backup singer for Elvis Presley shared. "I was trying to get her to eat. I was trying to get her to exercise. I handled her medications and had to make sure she had what she needed. I was trying every way I could."
Speaking from the home in Tennessee he once shared with his wife, he continued, "If I had known where she was, I would've been much softer on her. I would've been gentler and more understanding instead of tired and exhausted because it was wearing me out, too. To know now that she was contemplating [suicide], I look back and just wish I had been holding her and comforting her instead of pushing her. I don't know if that would've helped, but it certainly wouldn't have hurt."
He is now working with the National Association of Mental Illness to raise money and help break the stigma surrounding mental illness. "I was consumed by what happened, and I want to do anything I can to help relieve any kind of hurting or suffering for others. I'm willing to do whatever I can to hopefully help anyone not go through what our family has," Strickland said.
References:
https://people.com/country/larry-strickland-on-naomi-judd-final-months-before-suicide-exclusive/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Evan Agostini
