Mother still struggling with Brittany's death
Brittany Murphy's mother tells herself her daughter is still alive.
Sharon Murphy is still struggling to cope with the loss of her daughter - who died of pneumonia last December aged 32 - and son-in-law Simon Monjack, who passed away just five months later, and tried to pretend the double tragedy never happened.
She said: "It's beyond strange. I don't have answers for it. Sometimes just in order to function, I pretend it didn't happen."
Sharon lived with the pair in their Beverly Hills home and has remained there to feel close to the couple.
She explained to In Touch Weekly magazine: "I feel their presence here. It's comforting."
Brittany's mother - who keeps her daughter's bedroom exactly as it was before she died - has found her death especially difficult because they relied on each other for everything.
She explained: "I'm always remembering times with her. She would always say that we grew up together, and that's true. We were so close, and such great friends."
In order to help with her grief, Sharon is working on a memoir about her daughter and focusing on her charity work for the Brittany Murphy Foundation which funds arts programs for underprivileged children.
She said: "A portion of the proceeds that I receive from the book will be donated to charity."
