Letter To Ashley Judd: You Had a Good Mother

TW: mentions gun violence and suicide)

Dear Ashley,

I hope you don’t mind the informality, but since I’ve followed your family for over thirty years, I think I can address you as a friend would. First off, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about your mother’s death. I’m sorry you weren’t allowed to even mourn her in private. You stated in your essay in the New York Times that, while your mother was dying or, in Appalachian terms, “going home,” you had to answer endless questions from the police department about what happened.