'What shocked me as I would start to engage her in topics is how little I had asked. Most of us don't 'spill the beans,' until it's too late, Dern says.
Thinking this was the last time they'd have together, the conversations were intimate and honest. Those conversations, which Laura recorded for herself and her children, are now a new book Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding). To make the time more interesting and engaging, Dern interviewed her mother. So, every day – sometimes over Ladd's protestations – the two set out on a 15-minute walk.
Ladd, who is also an actor, thought she had six months left to live - but the doctor said taking walks might help her increase her lung capacity. Nearly four years ago, Laura Dern's mother, Diane Ladd, was diagnosed with lung disease. They are pictured above in Los Angeles in 2015. Laura Dern, right, and her mother Diane Ladd have adapted a series of their conversations into the new book Honey, Baby, Mine.
