Queen Latifah paid tribute to her late mother, Rita Owens, on Friday.
The 48-year-old singer shared a new Instagram post that comes exactly six months after her mom’s death.
‘6 Months ago today I said bye for now to the first smile I’d ever seen,’ Latifah said. ‘I miss you So much Mommy. I know you’re there and I can’t wait to see that smile again,’ the Girls Trip star said. ‘Till then 143….’ The number 143 means ‘I love you.’
A tribute to mom: Queen Latifah posted a tribute to her late mother Rita Owens on Instagram Friday, exactly six months after she passed away; seen in 2003
Remembering mom: Latifah’s heartfelt Instagram post, paying tribute to her mother Rita
The singer/actress, who plays Carlotta Brown on Fox’s Star, also shared a photo from her 2003 surprise birthday party in West Hollywood.
‘Anyone that has ever met her knows what a bright light she was on this earth,’ Latifah said in a statement to People. ‘She was gentle, but strong, sweet, but sassy, worldy but pragmatic, a woman of great faith and certainly the love of my life.’
Queen, mom and cousin: Latifah shared this photo with Rita and her cousin Tina on Instagram after Rita’s passing in March
The Chicago star first opened up about her mother’s heart failure condition in a 2015 People interview.
She revealed that, when she’s not working in California, she spends her time in New Jersey, sharing caregiving duties with a nurse and relatives like her cousin Tina.
‘As a caregiver – it’s just like being a parent, like some things really don’t matter,” Latifah said in the 2015 interview. ‘All the kind of frivolous things sort of fall to the side because there’s something way more important than all that.’
Hitting the red carpet: Owens passed away in March at the age of 69, after suffering from a heart condition for the past decade; seen in 2016
Latifah is coming off an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Television Movie for Flint, which she starred in as Iza Banks.
She returns as Carlotta Banks in Season 3 of Fox’s hit TV drama Star, which premieres Wednesday, September 26 at 9 PM ET, after Empire.
The actress also stars in and executive produces the upcoming comedy The Trap, with T.I. and Mike Epps, and King of the South, a biopic on rapper Master P.
