Ella Bleu Travolta honored her mom Kelly Preston for her birthday two years after her death with a moving Instagram post on Thursday, October 13. The actress, 22, shared a series of photos of Kelly, who passed away at 57 years old in July 2020, to show how much she misses her mom. Along with the pictures, Kelly wrote “Happy Birthday, Mamma,” on the slides and she captioned the post with more love for her. “We love you,” she wrote.
The video was set to Haley Reinhart’s cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley, and it featured a number of shots of Kelly with her daughter when she was very young. There were also some shots of Ella with both her mom and dad, John Travolta, 68. John also sent love to his daughter with a series of heart emojis commenting on the post.
Tons of people shared their love with Ella. Even Alec Baldwin commented to recall working on the “ridiculous” movie The Cat in the Hat with Kelly. “She was the highlight. Kelly Preston is the loveliest and most beautiful woman I ever worked with,” he wrote. “I treasure all the moments I had with her.”
Kelly died following a battle with breast cancer in July 2020. Like her husband, Kelly was an actress, who starred in a number of movies, including Jerry Maguire, For the Love of the Game, and What A Girl Wants. After her mother’s death, Ella also shared an emotional tribute to her on Instagram. “I have never met anyone as courageous, strong, beautiful and loving as you,” she wrote at the time. “You have made life so beautiful and I know you will continue to do so always. I love you so much mama.”
Kelly and John were married from 1991 until her passing. Besides Ella, they had two sons: Jett, who sadly died in 2009 at age 16, and Ben, 11. The Saturday Night Fever star also posted a tribute sharing the news that his wife had died on Instagram. “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,” he wrote at the time. “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.”