SunOfHollywood.com

Ashley Judd is taking a bold step in regaining control of her painful past and childhood, by sharing her broken memories with us in her book entitled “All That Is Bitter & Sweet”, set to be released today, Tuesday April 5th.

In her book of memoirs, Ashley reveals the shocking truth of her tumultuous upbringing that was surrounded by drug use and included horrible events of molestation and rape.  She speaks on how her mother said they put the “fun” in “dysfunctional”, yet that was quite contrary to Ashley’s recollection of her upbringing. The first chapter opens up with Ashley stating the following…

“My family of origin, the one into which I was born, was also brimming with love but was not a healthy family system. There was too much trauma, abandonment, addiction and shame. My mother, while she was transforming herself into the country legend Naomi Judd, created an origin myth for the Judds that did not match my reality. She and my sister have been quoted as saying that our family put the “fun” in dysfunction. I wondered: Who, exactly, was having all the fun? What was I missing?”

“I was taught to believe that our lifestyle was normal and never to question it or complain, even when I was left alone for hours, sometimes days at a time, or when I was passed without warning to yet another relative,”

The problems for the actress didn’t just occur outside the house, as she details a sexual assault she suffered while getting pizza.

“An old man everyone knew beckoned me into a dark, empty corner of the business and offered me a quarter for the pinball machine at the pizza place if I’d sit on his lap.  He opened his arms, I climbed up, and I was shocked when he suddenly cinched his arms around me, squeezing me and smothering my mouth with his, jabbing his tongue deep into my mouth.”

While I myself may not see how she was able to muster up the courage to reveal such traumatic experiences of her past, I appreciate the fact that whatever Ashley has had to overcome, has only led to the strength that has helped her to accomplish so much on her own outside of the shadow of “The Judds”.  We can only hope that Ashley’s search for peace comes with releasing all that she has had to hold in for so long.