Hollywood star Angelina Jolie has described "losing mother's soft embrace like having someone rip away a protective blanket", and says her mothers death changed her a lot.

Jolie's mother Marcheline Bertrand passed away in 2007 after being diagnosed with ovarian and breast cancer.

The actress opened up about the loss in an emotional Mother's Day op-ed for the New York Times, reports people.com.

"I lost my mother in my thirties," Jolie wrote, adding: "When I look back to that time, I can see how much her death changed me. It was not sudden, but so much shifted inside. Losing a mother's love and warm, soft embrace is like having someone rip away a protective blanket."

She also shared how Bertrand's split from Jolie's father and actor Jon Voight had an impact on Bertrand's acting aspirations.

"When my father had an affair, it changed her life. It set her dream of family life ablaze. But she still loved being a mother. Her dreams of being an actor faded as she found herself, at the age of 26, raising two children with a famous ex who would cast a long shadow on her life. After she died, I found a video of her acting in a short film. She was good. It was all possible for her," wrote the Oscar winning star.

As a tribute to her mother, Jolie got a small tattoo on her right hand of the letter "W", referencing the song "Winter" which Bertrand used to sing when she was a baby.

Jolie noted that the tattoo faded over the years, but it helped her during a period of her "own loss".

"As the ‘W' faded on my hand, so did that feeling of home and protection. Life has taken many turns. I've had my own loss and seen my life take a different direction. And it hurt more than I imagined it ever would," she wrote.