Glen Campbell’s Wife, Daughter Pen Open Letters in Response to His Death
Glen Campbell's wife Kim and daughter Ashley have each written open letters following Campbell's death on Aug. 8. Both notes reflect on their loss and offer fans a glimpse into Campbell's family's grieving process.
Kim Campbell's letter, posted to her blog on CareLiving.org and dated Aug. 9, was written while she and her family were making the drive, on a tour bus, from Nashville to Delight, Ark., where Glen Campbell was born and where he was buried. She notes, "We’ve done this drive countless times before, but today is different."
"As we pass from state to state in the early morning darkness, it all feels strangely familiar, yet very different. The bus is quiet today. There is no singing, no laughter, no Glen," Kim Campbell writes. "There will be no joy or excitement as we approach the Campbell family cemetery, where we will lay my husband of 34 years, the father of my three children and my very best friend, to rest."
In her letter, Campbell explains that she "[has] been grieving and saying goodbye to Glen every day for the last six years, ever since his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, not knowing which day he might forget me or which day might be his last." However, although she knew her husband's death "was inescapable and certain," saying goodbye for the very last time was still exceptionally hard.
"I find immense comfort knowing that Glen’s spirit is now free and present with the Lord," Campbell concludes. "I have no doubt that when he met his maker yesterday at 10AM, he was greeted with, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'"
Ashley Campbell's note, meanwhile, accompanied the re-release of her single "Remembering." Originally released in 2015, the song was inspired by Glen Campbell's battle with Alzheimer's disease and how it felt for his daughter to interact with him during that time.
“Music was the thing that could bring him back to us when the fog would pull him just a little further away,” Ashley Campbell writes. “I was looking for a way to reach him, even when he seemed lost ... Now, after he has passed, when I sing this song, I feel like he is reaching back for me as I reached for him. I can feel him with me in the music, and he is comforting me now.”
In June of 2011, Glen Campbell announced that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, after experiencing short-term memory loss for several years; the disease continued to rob him of his memories until his death. During his lifetime, Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and won a number of major awards, including numerous Grammy Awards and Grammy Hall of Fame honors, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, two CMA Awards (including Entertainer of the Year), a number of ACM Awards and many more. His final album, Adios, was released in June.
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