Ben was afraid that "Because mom passed away," he was going to lose his dad, too, and though it was a difficult question, Travolta knew he had to answer his son, truthfully.
Losing a loved one is never easy, and actor John Travolta knows the feeling all too well. He first lost his beloved son, Jett, in 2009. At the time, his wife, Kelly Preston, was the one who comforted him. But fate was cruel to him, and he lost his wife of almost three decades of marriage in July 2020, to cancer. Though grief took over him, he knew he had to hold it all in, for the sake of his kids, who were also heartbroken and confused.
In a statement on Instagram after Preston's death, the actor said, "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. But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal."
Over a year after Travolta's loss, he revealed that his 10-year-old son Benjamin Travolta approached him, worried that he was going to lose his father, too. According to PEOPLE, the 67-year-old actor opened up about the emotional conversation he and his son had during the latest episode of Kevin Hart's Peacock talk show series Hart to Heart.
Travolta shared that during a walk through their neighborhood late one night, Ben explained to his father that he was afraid to lose him too. "He said to me once, 'Because mom passed away, I'm afraid you're going to,'" Travolta said.
Despite being a difficult question to answer, Travolta knew he owed his youngest son —who was born a year after he lost his oldest son—an answer. "I said, 'Well, it's a very different thing.' And I went through the differences about my longevity and her limited life," the Grease star added. "I said, 'But you know, Ben … you always love the truth and I'm going to tell you the truth about life. Nobody knows when they're gonna go or when they're going to stay.' "
He then spoke about his son Jett, and his wife Preston, to tell his confused son that the future is inevitable as it is unknown. "Your brother [Jett] left at 16. Too young. Your mother left at 57. That was too young. But who's to say? I could die tomorrow. You could. Anybody can," he added. "So let's look at it like it's part of life. You don't know exactly. You just do your best at trying to live the longest you can."
Travolta and Preston tied the knot in 1991, and they became parents to three children, Jett, Ella (now 21 years old), and Benjamin. When Jett was found dead in a hotel in the Bahamas, they were absolutely shattered.
After losing his wife, he opened up about the grief he experienced to Esquire Spain, as quoted by ET, "I learned that mourning someone, dealing with grief is something very personal. Mourning is individual and experiencing your own journey is what can lead you to heal. Your grief is different from another person's journey."
References:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCkgCG5ptxE/
https://people.com/parents/john-travolta-after-kelly-preston-died-talk-with-son-ben/
Cover Image Source: Instagram | John Travolta (@johntravolta)
