It’s always incredibly difficult when a loved one passes away, and everyone’s experience with grief and mourning is different. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to deal with that kind of loss.
Actor John Travolta is opening up about his own personal experience with grief after losing his wife Kelly Preston in July of last year after a two-year fight with breast cancer.
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John Travolta is one of our favorite actors.
From Grease to Pulp Fiction, Saturday Night Fever to Hairspray , there are so many fantastic films that John Travolta has showed off his incredible talent and charm in.
Unfortunately, John’s life has also included tragedy, in the loss of his wife, Kelly, and his son, Jett.
Jett Travolta was born on April 13th, 1992.
While on a family vacation in the Bahamas in 2009, Jett tragically suffered a seizure and passed away at the age of 16.
John took to social media to remember Jett on his birthday this year, which would have been Jett’s 29th.
John shared a beautiful black and white photo of himself with his son.
“Happy birthday my beautiful Jetty. I love you,” John shared alongside the photograph.
Fans shared their condolences in the comments, with one writing, “I believe he and Kelly are together (again) forever….I hope you have found comfort in that, in some small measure at least.”
Fans shared their condolences in the comments.
“Aw, Jett. Happy birthday. Love how he always had a smile,” one fan wrote.
“Yes miss this sweet boy of yours! With mom in heaven!” another shared.
John also recently suffered another tragic loss.
Last year, John’s wife of 19 years, actress Kelly Preston, tragically passed away after a two-year fight with breast cancer. The couple shared three children together, Jett, Ella, and Benjamin.
John announced Kelly’s passing with an emotional Instagram post.
“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. She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many,” John wrote .
“My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side.”
“Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while,” he continued.
“But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal,” John finished.
John opened up about grieving his wife in an interview, originally written in Spanish, for Esquire Spain .
John said that “living in mourning is something personal.”
“Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead to healing,” John explained . “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.”
John explained that he felt “saturated” with other people’s grief as he tried to process his own
“Even though it’s great to have company, sometimes it becomes like you’re helping them rather than putting yourself to work overcoming feelings of loss and grief,” John explained, adding that he ” didn’t know what to do.”
“The first thing you should do when you experience grief is to go to a place where you can mourn, without any interference,” he said.
John likened the process to a sinking ship bringing down those around it. “If I die tomorrow, the last thing I want to see is that everyone around is sunk,” he said.
Our thoughts are with John and his family.
h/t: Esquire Spain
