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Ashley Judd is marking her first birthday without her late mother, country music superstar Naomi Judd.
The "Berlin Station" star, who turned 55 on April 19, posted a photo on Instagram of a handwritten birth announcement that her mom, who died by suicide in April 2022, sent out to friends and family shortly after she was born.
She included a second image showing a current photo of herself celebrating with a piece of birthday cake.
“My birthday. Everyone who loves me is making it as soft (cake in bed) and precious as they can, as my mind can’t help but calculate that on my last birthday, Mom was a scant 11 days from her death by crushing suicide. So it is my first without her," Ashley Judd wrote in her caption.
The grieving daughter went on to say that she thinks of her late mom "constantly."
"I am looking at my baby announcement & sitting with her tender joy in sharing about me. I am recalling her annual rite of recounting to me the day of my birth, all the details that were so precious to her," she wrote.
Ashley Judd told fans that on her birthday every year, her mother would “glow” while telling her how “brown” she was on the day she was born. Her mother also informed her that she was the “the sweetest, easiest baby.”
She also recalled the many birthdays she spent with her mother and other loved ones by her side.
“We celebrated so many together with my Chosen Family: picnics, running charades, Smoky Mountains, conversations about parenting (‘when we know better, we do better’) social issues, & laughter scatter like sunlight in my memory,” she wrote.
She also recalled that her birthday last year, just days before the late Judds singer ended her own life, was a quieter affair.
“Last year’s, as you might imagine, was more muted, being so close to her end. Pop and she came over with a roast chicken and cornbread, and we shared a small meal, the 3 of us,” wrote Judd, adding that her mom “laid down a lot” during the celebration.
“We had cake and in spite of being weak and preoccupied with the disease that was eating at her," she wrote, seemingly referring to her mother's battle with depression, "she had a gorgeous card for me and I knew, as ever, how much she loved me."
She added, “I know that today, too, even as she breathes in the infinite mercy of God.”
Judd concluded her emotional post by thanking her late mother for showing her so much love throughout her life. “Thank you, Mom, for all my birthdays so far, and for celebrating me: for holding me at bedtime and whispering in my ear, ‘Ashley, you are an extraordinary woman,’ and letting me be your Sweetpea.
“What more does a birthday girl need, than memories of a mother like that?" she asked.
Referring to the second photo she shared, Judd added, "And this is how she saw and loved me, first awake, hair never brushed, ready to share our dreams. For you, Mom. For you."
Judd's famous friends commented to say they were thinking of her on her birthday.
"Happy Birthday Ashley. It’s a hard one. I’m so sorry. She is with you, loving you," wrote former "Will & Grace" star Debra Messing.
Olympic gold medal-wining skier Lindsey Vonn told Judd, "It’s moments like this that we reflect on our Mothers most. Sending love."
Actor and comedian Rosie O'Donnell, whose own mom died of breast cancer just four days before her 11th birthday, wrote, "Only love ashley."
Legendary model Linda Evangelista commented with a row of black heart emoji.
In July 2022, Judd opened up about her relationship with her late mom while speaking on the “Healing with David Kessler” podcast.
"I look back at my childhood, and I realize I grew up with a mom who had an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness,” the actor said. “And there are different behavioral expressions, interactions, flights of fancy, you know, choices that she made that I understand were an expression of the disease."
The "A Time to Kill" star revealed that she felt no resentment toward her late mom.
“I understand that and know that she was in pain, and (I) can today understand that she was absolutely doing the best that she could. And if she could have done it differently, she would have.”
Judd added that she hoped her mom was able to forgive herself for her parenting mistakes.
“My most ardent wish for my mother is that when she transitioned, she was hopefully able to let go of any guilt or shame that she carried for any shortcomings she may have had in her parenting of my sister and me,” she said.
“Because, certainly on my end, all was forgiven long ago.”