In 2018, Diane Ladd got news no one ever wants to hear. She was diagnosed with a fatal lung disease. Diane was told she had six months to live because of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Daughter Laura Dern was devastated but vowed to make the most of the little time the pair had left together. She told Diane that they should "leave nothing unsaid." The pair began to take long walks together both to talk and to improve Diane’s lung function. These walks became the basis for their new memoir Honey, Baby, Mine, which the pair promoted at the Los Angeles Festival of Books. Diane made a full recovery, defying the odds.
"Mom, it's time we told each other everything. We deserve to know each other truly. Let’s walk tomorrow, and every day after until you are better," Laura wrote in Honey, Baby, Mine. "I will record our talks and we will have this forever — our story, saved on these recordings, committed to the page."
The pair did just that and grew closer than ever. They healed old wounds and got a deeper understanding of each other.
"In the months that followed, we talked through happy memories and old wounds — some of which healed as a result of these conversations," Laura revealed. "I learned things about her I’d never known and discovered another side to stories from my childhood."
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Laura quickly realized she was doing this for herself as much as for her mom. "I thought I was doing all this talking and reminiscing for my mother’s sake, to give her peace and strength in her final months or years and to let her know how she’d shaped me and how grateful I was for her example. But I would come to learn that this time with her was a gift for me as well,” she confessed.
Diane is a force of nature. She not only beat the odds of her diagnosis but has accomplished so much since then. In the last four years, she has made two movies, shot a television show, and written a book.
To learn more about this mother-daughter duo, watch this video.
