Wynonna Judd spiralled into ‘panic’ during Thanksgiving without mum Naomi Judd
Wynonna Judd spiralled into a “panic” during her first Thanksgiving without her mum Naomi Judd.
The singer, 58, said her feeling of calm during the holiday lasted a matter of minutes before she was horrified by the concept her family set-up had changed forever following her musician’s mother’s suicide aged 76 in April.
She told People about being gripped by panic while preparing to host family and friends at her home: “That (calm) lasted for all of 38 minutes, and then I went into panic.
“Because I realised something, and that is that I’m now the matriarch. And I think the pressure of that alone was like, ‘Oh my gosh, my mom isn’t here this year. And I made her favourite foods, and I did it really well.’”
She added about battling to pull herself together with guests in her house: “I said, ‘OK, you’re gonna have to stop this because this is your holiday as well.’
“I think we forget that it’s our experience as well as being the hostess with the mostess.”
But she added she held her Thanksgiving dinner on an “alternative day” and spent the holiday date of November 24 at home in her pyjamas “out for the count”.
Wynonna said: “I cried, and I cried, and I gave myself permission to do that. Because everybody was like, ‘I hope your Thanksgiving was a blessed one’... so for me, I did Thanksgiving on an alternative day, and that felt good to me because it allowed me to look at it more as a day instead of... a national holiday.”
Wynonna has also admitted in October she “lost it” rehearsing for tour without her late mum.
The Judds tour was announced weeks before Naomi took her life on April 30 – 24 hours ahead of their induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Wynonna also previously told how she is “incredibly angry” at her mum for taking her life.
The toxicology report on Naomi revealed she had several different drugs in her system at the time of her suicide, including medications used to treat insomnia, Parkinson’s disease, depression and seizures.
