Loretta Lynn’s family honored the one-year anniversary of her death with a reflection on the
“long, hard year without her.”

The country legend died on October 4, 2022, at 90 years old, leaving behind two sisters, four children, and dozens of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

In a statement shared on Lynn’s website Wednesday, the singer’s family marked “365 days since we saw her sweet smile.” They recalled how the matriarch “slipped away in her sleep,” how she had looked forward to heaven, and how she was ready to join the angels.
“She was overjoyed, we were broken,” her family wrote of her passing. “She had warned us just days before that the angels were coming, but we dismissed it.”

“At 90, we knew the moment was inevitable. We had watched her age and her health decline. The stroke, the fall, then the pandemic that isolated everyone had all taken their toll,” they went on. “Yet, in the midst of it all she fought through, overcame odds, kept recording hit albums, wrote books, gave us advice, made us laugh, and kept us together.”

“She was our world in so many ways. She had been the light that shined on us big and bright for as long as we could remember.”

“It’s been a long, hard year without her,” her family continued. “12 months since we heard her voice, the first birthdays she didn’t sing to us. 52 weeks since we had a conversation, the first decisions without her. 365 days since we saw her sweet smile, our greatest pain felt without our strongest comforter to comfort us.”
One of the greatest country artists of all time, Lynn already had four children before launching her career in the early 1960s. The Kentucky native’s biggest hits came in the 1960s and ’70s, including “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” “The Pill,” “Don’t Come Home a Drinkin’ (With Lovin’ on Your Mind),” “Welcome To Fist City,” and “You’re Looking at Country.”

Over the course of her groundbreaking, six-decade career, Lynn was inducted into more music Halls of Fame than any female recording artist. The four-time-Grammy-winner became the first woman to be named the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year in 1972 and sold more than 45 million records worldwide.
“We are so grateful for all who treasured her,” the family’s tribute continues. “It means more to us now than ever before. We have also begun to reflect on her legacy, her contribution, her legendary significance. More than ever we are committed to honoring her life, her songwriting, her music, her message, her authenticity. We are committing ourselves to this task for the rest of our lives.”

“Today is a tough one but what lucky, lucky people we are to have had her,” they concluded. “Thank you for your love and support. We look forward to honoring and celebrating all things Loretta with you in the years to come!”