Harry Connick Jr will always mourn mother's loss

Los Angeles: Singer-actor Harry Connick, Jr. still feels the pain of losing his mother as a child, 35 years after her death.

The 49-year-old "Dolphin Tale" star's father raised Harry and his sister Suzanna as a single parent after his wife, Anita, lost her battle with ovarian cancer in 1981.

Connick Jr, who was 13 at the time, said her death was tough on the whole family, but they managed to pull through, reported Entertainment Weekly.

"It was extremely traumatic as you can imagine and I think had it not been for my father and his incredible gifts as a father and unwavering support of me and my sister and my extended family's support, I'm not so sure I could have gotten through it," Connick Jr said.

"It was unquestionably the hardest thing that's ever happened to me before or since. You just take what you're given and accept it with grace and try to move on with your life."