John Travolta had a poignant conversation with his youngest son after Kelly Preston’s death

Kelly Preston died of breast cancer in July 2020 at the age of 57. A disappearance which, of course, was a real shock for her husband John Travolta who also had to face the distress of Benjamin, their 10-year-old son.

During a stint on Kevin Hart’s talk show, Hart to Heart, the actor kindly returned to this drama, remembering a conversation he had with his son shortly after. “Because mom is dead, I’m afraid you will die too,” the boy told his father. The actor decided that it was time to teach his son, despite his young age, this lesson as universal as it is eternal: life is uncertain, and its value is proportional to its brevity.

Everyone is afraid to die tomorrow

“I said ‘Ben, you’ve always loved the truth, and I’m going to tell you the truth about life. Nobody knows when they’re going to leave or until when they’re going to be made to stay,'” said told John Travolta who then took the example of his son Jett, who died in 2009 following an epileptic seizure. “I told him, ‘Your brother died at 16. Too young. Your mother at 57. It was too young. But who can say? I can die tomorrow. You can too. It can happen to anyone. world. So let’s look at it as part of life. You don’t know exactly. You’re just doing your best to try and live as long as you can, “” replied John Travolta.