John Travolta’s Daughter Ella Honors Mom Kelly Preston on What Would Have Been Her 62nd Birthday.Linh

The Grease actor’s late wife passed away aged 57 in 2020 after a battle with cancer

It isn’t the easiest day for John Travolta and his family.

Sunday, October 13 marked what would have been the Grease actor’s late wife Kelly Preston’s 62nd birthday, though she passed away aged 57 on July 12, 2020 after a battle with breast cancer.

The couple was together from 1991 until her passing, and in that time welcomed son Jett, who passed away aged 16 in 2009 after a seizure, daughter Ella Bleu, 24, and son Benjamin, who will be 14 next month.

In honor of Kelly’s birthday, her daughter Ella took to Instagram and shared a touching tribute.

The 24-year-old, an aspiring singer, shared a throwback photo of the The Cat in the Hat actress in which she’s sporting her hair in a tousled bob, and is wearing a semi-sheer black dress with a white Peter Pan collar.

“Happy Birthday, mama. I love you,” Ella wrote in her caption alongside a silver heart emoji, and fans were then quick to take to the comments section under the post and further pay tribute.

“Happy Heavenly Birthday to your gorgeous mama and bless you and your family,” one wrote, as others followed suit with: “It’s as if you can see her sweetness bubbling forth,” and: “Happy birthday Kelly in heaven. Ella you look so much like your beautiful mom,” as well as: “Happy Birthday to your beautiful mommy in heaven! Blessings to you & your family.”

Ella was about 20 when she lost her mom

Both Ella and her dad John have always been steadfast in their commitment to continuously honoring Kelly’s legacy and memory.

Most recently, Ella released the song “Little Bird” in honor of Kelly, and the accompanying video is made up of throwback home videos featuring her mom tending to her when she was a little kid, among other tender family moments.

The lyrics in part read: “Little bird, don’t you cry / Would you stay a while before I fly?” and: “Close your eyes, won’t you smile? / Sing a lullaby, it’ll be alright.”

Touching on the emotional subject of the song on Instagram, Ella previously explained that it is “a song about a beautiful time in my life.”

She added: “I spent the last two years thinking about what I wanted this song to be, only for it to be written over night. This song is about the celebration of life.”