Country singer Naomi Judd’s widower, Larry Strickland, has opened up about the last few months of her life.
In an exclusive interview with People, he revealed that “It was a very chaotic, hectic, hectic time.”
“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,” he added.
Judd was open about her struggle with depression. Strickland shared he tried his best to help her get better.
“I just feel like I might have overdone it,” he explained. “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.”
He admitted that he wishes he did things differently at the time had he known how bad her mental health was.
He said:
“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.”
Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.”
The couple were married for 33 years; Strickland spoke about sticking by his wife’s side despite her mental health battle.
He shared that he was with her 24/7 “for the past 13 years or more.”
“I never left the house without Naomi knowing where I was going and when I would be back. As far as taking care of myself, I’m not sure that fits my situation. When you have a mate that has a mental illness, you walk that path with them,” he said.
Speaking on Naomi Judd’s death, Strickland said it was pain like he’s “never felt before.”
“When you lose someone to suicide, you don’t get a chance to say bye. [After losing Naomi], it was pain like I’ve never felt before,” he shared.
Strickland teamed up with National Association of Mental Illness “to raise funds and help break the stigma surrounding mental illness,” People reported.
In an interview with Academy of Country Music, on Wednesday, he gave advice for those struggling with mental illness.
“First of all, try to be present. Make your world a little smaller, come inside yourself, and understand you woke up this morning, you’re still breathing and you need to be grateful. Things can change on you drastically within a split second your world could change into chaos or tragedy or anything,” he said.
He added, “You can’t handle it if you don’t stay present.”
On April 30, Judd died by suicide at the age of 76.
Her daughters, Wynonna Judd and Ashley Judd, announced the news on social media.
“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. We are in unknown territory,” the statement read.