Lisa Riley has opened up about her heartbreaking loss she still feels 10 years on from her mother's death.
The actress, 46, who lost mum Cath to breast cancer aged 58 in 2012, told fans on Instagram her dear mum is her "forever angel".
Lighting two candles for her mum, Lisa recalled the pain of losing "my world" a decade ago.
"My BELOVED Mum Cath, lost her battle with cancer ten years ago today, the pain, as I write this, is as raw as it was back then. You’ve heard it said many many times, 'it gets easier with time' does it???" she wrote.
"The biggest hole is in my heart always, because my mum was so unique, so funny, so compassionate, so caring, unbelievably happy, so giving with her time, to EVERYONE.
"She literally shone like the brightest star you’ve ever seen, and everybody says the same. 'Cath Riley, once met, never forgotten' hearing this still makes me cry. Because I suppose I struggle the most coming to terms with how young she was.
"The lesson I’ve learnt is this. I lean on my nearest and dearest, and for this I’m so incredibly blessed.
"My Al, my family, my best friends, my work family and work colleagues. You hold me up, on the days I’m down and really emotional, you all keep me laughing, because you know that's how I deal with things best…..
"For this today PLEASE accept my upmost gratitude. May anyone else feeling REAL grief today, read this, and find someone close whom they can talk to, as talking and expressing your inner feelings, helps. It really does, and I say this with truth and honesty."
The iconic soap actress, who has played Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale since 1995, previously said she sends a “postcard to heaven” for her late mother every year.
She marks special days in her honour every year with brother Liam and his kids Jake, Joshua and Everlyn.
She said: “We let balloons off and say they’re going to heaven.
“For her birthday I get my nephews and my niece to write a postcard and we go to the post office and the address is ‘to heaven’.”
Lisa, who plays Mandy Dingle in the ITV soap, is still holding on to the dried roses from Cath’s casket.
The actress told the My Time Capsule podcast: “Some people think it’s weird. But it’s my mum.”
