Caitlyn Jenner paid tribute to her late mom Esther Jenner by speaking at a memorial service one month after Esther passed away at the age of 96. The reality star, 73, took to her Instagram on May 26 to share photos from the emotional event, where she stood next to a photo of her mom to present her speech. Caitlyn also posted a screenshot of her mom’s memorial pamphlet, which included a beautiful poem (below).
“I spoke at my moms memorial service yesterday. It was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do,” Caitlyn captioned the Instagram. “I miss her terribly every day. She is loved and missed and in a better place.” Caitlyn’s daughter, Kylie Jenner, commented with three heart emojis.
On April 21, the 1976 Olympic decathlon gold medalist, who came out as transgender in 2015, shared the news of her mom’s passing in an emotional post to social media. “Losing a mother is unique in the sense that she is the only person that loved me my entire life,” wrote the Keeping Up with the Kardashians alum. “I will miss her tremendously. She was a few weeks shy of 97 and lived a full life. Love you, Mom.”
The mother-daughter duo clearly shared a close bond, even though Esther wasn’t afraid to let Caitlyn know how she felt about the reality show business. “I think that Kardashian show is the most senseless thing I have ever watched,” Esther told The Sun in 2022 after Caitlyn was excluded from the Hulu series, The Kardashians. “But my two granddaughters, Kendall and Kylie, created it, and I love them dearly. They’re my blood. And my four step-grandchildren — Kim, Kourtney, Khloé, and Robert — feel like they’re mine, too.”
Speaking of family, Caitlyn has a whopping brood! The former athlete welcomed the first of her six biological children with wife Chrystie Scott. The couple — who were married from 1972 to 1981 — had son Burt and daughter Cassandra. In 1981, Caitlyn married actress Linda Thompson and they became parents to Brody and Brandon. After divorcing Linda in 1986 and marrying Kris Kardashian in 1991, Caitlyn welcomed daughters Kendall and Kylie. She also became the stepparent to Kris’ four kids from her previous marriage to Robert Kardashian: Kourtney, Kim, Khloe and Rob.