Iza Calzado and her daughter Deia with a portrait of the actress’ mother. Image: Instagram/@missizacalzado
Iza Calzado expressed regrets over not being a “better friend” to her late mom Mary Ann Ussher, who suffered from mental health struggles, with the actress lamenting how she was “too young to understand” the situation at the time.
Calzado remembered her mom on the latter’s birth anniversary, making an open letter to her via the actress’ Instagram page on Thursday, June 13.
Along with the letter are photos of Calzado and her daughter Deia holding a portrait of Ussher.
“Mama, I wish I was a better friend to you. I was too young to understand,” Calzado said.
“Now that I have my own child, I will do my best to be a good mother and friend to Deia and keep your memory alive through the stories of Lola Tisay that I will share with her,” she added. “I miss you and, yes, I love you. Happy Birthday, Mama!”
Calzado was then comforted by her fans and fellow celebrities including Isabelle Daza, Ryan Agoncillo and Phoemela Baranda who extended their love via the comments section.
Image: Instagram/@missizacalzado
Image: Instagram/@missizacalzado
Ussher passed away in 2001 when Calzado was 19 years old. It was only in 2019 that Calzado openly confirmed that Ussher died of suicide after years of struggling with mental health.
“I realized that this can happen to anybody,” the actress said at the time. We are not glorifying it—I want to stress that. I’m alarmed by the large number of teen suicides. It’s something that I want to understand and help with.”
“Hopefully, we can find real solutions to this in the same way that we’re so gung ho at finding a cure for cancer or HIV/AIDS,” she added. “There’s a lot that we still don’t understand, but we’re learning. There’s still hope.”