John Travolta Shares Photo From First Father’s Day Without Late Wife Kelly Preston

John Travolta is celebrating his role as father to 21-year-old Ella and 10-year-old son Benjamin as the family celebrated his first Father’s Day without the Grease star’s late wife, Kelly Preston. The 67-year-old actor shared a sweet selfie with his two kids for the occasion, captioning the photo, “Happy Father’s Day everyone! It is a privilege to be the father of these two beautiful children – thank you for the honor and my love and respect to all fathers.”

Travolta’s family has been mourning the loss of Preston after she passed away in July 2020 at only 57 years old after a two-year battle with breast cancer. “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer,” the Saturday Night Fever star announced on July 13. “She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many.” He continued that Preston’s “love and life” would always be remembered, advising fans that he would be stepping back from public life for a bit as he was “taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother.” He concluded, “But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal.”

On Mother’s Day, Travolta honored Preston with family photos shared to Instagram, including one with late son Jett, who died in 2009 at the age of 16. “Dearest Kelly, you brought into my life three of the most wonderful children I have ever known,” the actor wrote in the caption. “We love and miss you. Happy Mother’s Day.”

In April, he opened up in an interview with Esquire Spain about his grieving process. “I learned that mourning someone, dealing with grief is something very personal,” the Pulp Fiction actor told the magazine. “Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead you to heal. Your grief is different from another person’s journey.”

“The most important thing you can do to help another person when they are in mourning is allow them to live through it and not complicate it with yours,” he continued. “Even though it’s great to have company, sometimes it turns into you helping them instead of you working on your loss and grief.”