Pushing Forward
- Ella Travolta, 20, John Travolta’s daughter, has been sharing memories of her mom, late actress Kelly Preston, since her passing last year from breast cancer.
- Ella Travolta and her dad just did a SuperBowl commercial performing dance moves from his iconic hit film Grease.
- Members of the SurvivorNet community say that creative activities such as writing, dance, and painting can provide a therapeutic outlet after the tragedy of losing a parent to cancer.
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The dark-haired beauty also recently shared a pic with her pops all snazzed up on New Year’s Eve. “Happy New Year everyone! Sending so much love to you all,” and added a shooting star after a heart emoji.
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Coping with Loss
Preston lost her life last July to breast cancer, shocking fans with the sudden news since Kelly and her family had chosen to keep her fight private. The family had been through tremendous tragedy before with the loss of Jett Travolta, son of John and Kelly, and older brother to Ella. John and Kelly had another son after Ella, Benjamin, 10.
Ella had shared a sweet birthday post on what would have been her mother’s 58th birthday last October, posting a childhood pic of her and her radiant mother. “Happy Birthday Mama, I love you so much,” she wrote with three hearts.
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When her mother passed, she shared a stunning photo of the natural beauty, saying “I have never met anyone as courageous, strong, beautiful and loving as you. Anyone who is lucky enough to have known you or to have ever been in your presence will agree that you have a glow and a light that never ceases to shine and that makes anyone around you feel instantly happy. Thank you for being there for me no matter what.
Thank you for your love. Thank you for your help and thank you for making this world a better place. You have made life so beautiful and I know you will continue to do so always. I love you so much mama.”
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Regaining Sense of Self After Loss
Meet Camila Legaspi, 23, who struggled with finding her identity after the loss of her mother as a teenager. “When I was in high school, I was totally the girl whose mom had died,” she shared with SurvivorNet. Legaspi was able to start over again after graduating from high school and starting college. “Instead of being defined by my mom’s death, I actually took this sadness and let it motivate me. I learned that it’s okay to be sad sometimes. It’s okay to carry sadness with you, it’s not always a bad thing. It makes you who you are and it gives you a story to tell, and it helps you teach other people to cope with their sadness.”
She regained her sense of self in the spirit of her mother. “My mom was a very creative person, so I was actually able to take this very creative part of her and use that to define me instead of her death,” she said. “My outlet for it became writing, and writing for my school magazine, and publishing creative works on what had happened to me. I’ve learned to have it impact me in a positive way and not just be a sad story … ”
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