Kimberly Williams-Paisley remembers Naomi Judd: ‘She probably had no idea what gift she was giving me’

Kimberly Williams-Paisley remembers Naomi Judd: ‘She probably had no idea what gift she was giving me’

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Naomi Judd left Kimberly Williams-Paisley with a gift before she passed.

Williams-Paisley recounted to Fox News Digital a special moment she shared with the late musician.

“Naomi Judd was always very sweet to me. I met her a few times and I remember shortly after I met my husband [Brad Paisley], I was still really freaked out about flying,” she said, while speaking about her travel hacks with Hilton. “It was after 9/11 and I used to get so nervous flying as so many people were. And I remember one day, I was on a flight with Naomi, and she was sitting behind me, and I was so nervous, and she just seemed so at peace and calm.”

“Impulsively, I turned around to her and I said, ‘I really am scared to fly.’ She just looked at me with this sparkle in her eye and she said, ‘Oh, I’m not afraid of anything.'”

Kimberly Williams-Paisley remembered an “inspiring” moment she shared with Naomi Judd before the singer’s death.

NAOMI JUDD’S HUSBAND KNEW HOW ‘FRAGILE’ SINGER WAS IN DAYS BEFORE HER DEATH

The “Father of the Bride” actress said the phrase was “really inspiring” to her and “simple.”

“And probably, you know, obviously not the case all the time. But in that moment, she felt it.”

“Ever since then, when I was afraid of flying, I would think, ‘Just pretend you’re Naomi. Just pretend you’re not afraid. Just say, I’m not afraid to fly’. And it worked. I’ve always been so grateful to her for just that one moment that she probably had no idea what gift she was giving me.”

Naomi died by suicide on April 30. Her daughters, Ashley and Wynonna Judd, announced the “Have Mercy” singer’s death via social media a day before The Judds were set to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Naomi died by suicide on April 30. Her death was announced by her daughters, Ashley and Wynonna, on social media.
(Photo by KMazur/WireImage)

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“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy,” the joint statement read. “We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”

Just weeks before her death, Naomi reunited with Wynonna at the CMA Awards for a performance. The duo also announced that they were going back on tour for the first time in 10 years.

“The Final Tour” was supposed to begin Sept. 30 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and end on Oct. 28. in Nashville, Tennessee. Martina McBride was set to open.

Naomi’s family has reportedly met to discuss the possibility of continuing the tour.

“They want to be respectful and representative of their legacy, but more importantly as to what Naomi would have wanted for her family and fans,” a source told People Magazine.

Naomi was remembered on Sunday at CMT’s “Naomi Judd: A River of Time.”

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Naomi was remembered Sunday at CMT’s “Naomi Judd: A River of Time.”

At the memorial, her husband Larry Strickland admitted that he was “scared to death” over the country music star’s trip to Nashville days before she died by suicide.

“I was really scared to death about her flying alone all the way from Vienna back to Nashville ’cause I knew how fragile she was,” he said.