As the first anniversary of the death of her daughter Amy Winehouse approaches, Janis Winehouse has given a poignant interview to HELLO! magazine in which she says that the grief "doesn’t get any easier." "There's a huge hole in my life – I used to speak to Amy every day.""Sometimes I wake up sobbing," she added.
Photographed at the North London home she shares with her husband Richard, Janis also shares previously unseen photographs of her daughter, who died on 23 July last year from alcohol poisoning.Janice said she believes that Amy is with her in spirit. "Just knowing that gives me strength," she explained to HELLO!."I'm pretty sure she has come back as a butterfly, because she would love the freedom of flying. "Janis also revealed that the Winehouse family will mark the anniversary quietly together in the Jewish tradition, with prayers and the lighting of a Yaghrzeit (memorial) candle.The grief can overwhelm Janis, a retired pharmacist. "We went to New York in April to launch the Amy Winehouse Foundation over there," she recalled. "We got on the plane at Heathrow and one of Amy's songs was playing, and I was inconsolable. Then, we bowled into a restaurant in New York and Back to Black was being played, and the emotions came again. "She wears one of Amy's rings as well as a Star of David necklace that the singer wore as a child. "She nibbled on it all the time, so it’s got lots of marks on it," she says fondly.
Janis would like people to know more about the positive sides of her daughter. "I want people to learn about the loving Amy, the lovely child, the daughter, the friend. She was just a regular kid who had a special talent. "And does she have any advice for relatives of those going through addiction? "Just be there for them," she says. "The thing about addiction is that there is only one person who can do anything, and that’s the addict. So you've just got to give them strength.Proceeds from the HELLO! interview are being donated to the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
