Love is Alive

With lack of most anything to write on this day before Star Wars Day, I suppose I can drop a thought or two about Naomi Judd? 

By all family accounts she died of "mental illness". So we all assume suicide. And we're probably all correct. 

I was never a fan of, or very familiar with the Judds. I heard a song here or there, but couldn't tell if the mom actually sang or if it was all a good marketing gimmick for Nashville. 

Full disclosure, Morty, Mitchell and I saw saw Wynonna at the Ohio State Fair (yes, you read that correctly) on the Black & Wy tour, back in 1991? 1992?.  Yes, Clint Black was the headline, and "Wy" opened for him. At some point in her career, she veered away from sining and just went into Elvis-growling as a choice and it became annoying as fuck. 

By all accounts, her mother, Naomi, spoke openly about her struggles with mental health. I suppose to hear that openness you'd have to seek out anything Judd Sr. had to say. 

Suicide is still shocking in some respects. 

I don't talk about this much, but my step-grandfather (though he was just my grandfather to me, as I have his last name as my middle one) committed suicide when I was like 11. 

Mind you, I wasn't supposed to know this. My mother was "careless" with all the paperwork she had to deal with after he died, one being his death certificate.  So it was carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage, and done about 14 months after my grandmother died.  That's a whole other story - or at least one I have in my brain that I was never brave enough to discuss with my mother. And now I can't. 

Eons later, I would mention the suicide and my mother was a little surprised I knew - as it was never discussed. Some of my sisters had known or come to know as well, but again, we never talked about the event. 

Just reading a death certificate at 11 could or should be jarring. But to me, it wasn't. Nor was the 4-1-1 that was in the document. I don't think it hardened me, but I think it came much more difficult to shock me. It was just a fact. 

By the way:  I get extra points for not titling this post, "Mama He's Crazy".   You're welcome!

Song by:  the Judds