John Travolta honored his late wife, Kelly Preston, on Mother’s Day with an emotional post featuring the couple’s three children.
On Sunday, the 67-year-old actor posted two snapshots on Instagram in memory of Preston, who died last year after a battle with breast cancer, marking the first time he’s celebrated Mother’s Day since her death.
“Dearest Kelly, you brought into my life three of the most wonderful children I have ever known. Thank you. We love and miss you. Happy Mother’s Day,” he wrote.
The first photo features Travolta holding his and Preston’s son, Benjamin, alongside daughter Ella, while the second is Travolta, Preston, and their late son, Jett, who died in 2009.
Preston had been privately battling breast cancer for two years when she died. Her family told People upon her death that she “had been undergoing medical treatment for some time.”
She and Travolta had been married for 28 years, having wed in 1991 when she was two months pregnant with Jett.
Last month, Travolta opened up to Esquire Spain about how he’s been processing his grief in the wake of his wife’s death.
“I learned that crying someone, living in mourning, is something personal. Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing,” he said. “This is different from someone else’s journey. The most important thing you can do to help another when they are in mourning is to allow them to live it and not complicate it with yours.”
He went on to share that, for others going through grief, the “first thing you should do” is “go to a place where you can mourn, without any interference.”