Kelly Preston "Still Deeply in the Process of Healing" After Losing Son

Still in mourning, the actress bows out of speaking at a California conference about grief and resilience, telling People it's "just too soon"

By Megan Masters Aug 30, 2009 3:35 PMTags
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For Kelly Preston, it's "just too soon" to publicly speak about the tragic death of her son, Jett Travolta.

Preston was scheduled to break her silence at the California Governor's Conference for Women hosted by Maria Shriver in October, but on Friday Preston reached out to People with an emotional statement explaining her cancellation:

"It is with my sincere apologies that I must pull out from speaking at [the] conference. I am sorry, but I truly believed that I could do it," stated the grieving mother. "Otherwise I never would have said that I could. But I am still deeply in the process of healing, and it's just too soon." 

Preston had planned on hosting a panel titled "Grief & Resilience," but Shriver wholeheartedly stands behind Preston's choice in her own statement:

"I know how hard it was for Kelly to make this decision and she has my complete support and understanding. Everyone has their own path to healing and their own timetable for grieving," says the California Governor's wife.

Shriver continues: "Kelly's presence at The Women's Conference will be missed, but the main stage conversation on grief and resilience with Elizabeth Edwards, Susan Saint James and myself will continue as planned. Having just lost my own mother and my uncle, I believe it's an important and meaningful subject because loss and grief will touch everyone at some point in their lives."

The actress and her husband, John Travolta, suffered the tragic loss in January when injuries from a seizure claimed 16-year-old Jett's life during a vacation in the Bahamas. Since then, the family has had little peace, after an ambulance driver and government official attempted to extort millions from the couple.

In June, Travolta also bowed out of the press tour for his new film The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 because he and his family needed "additional time to reconcile our loss."

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Look back at his charmed life in our Remembering Jett Travolta tribute.