Angelina Jolie Honors Her Late Mother With Call for Cancer Screenings: ‘Take the Time to Look After Yourself’

usmagazine.com:

Staying cautious. Angelina Jolie urged followers to take cancer screenings seriously while paying tribute to her late mother.“Tomorrow would have been my mother’s 73rd birthday,” the Maleficent actress, 47, captioned a polaroid photo of her and her mother via Instagram on Monday, May 8. “She passed away 15 years ago, after a long struggle with breast and ovarian cancer.”Marcheline Bertrand died at age 56 in January 2007 after battling cancer for nearly a decade, and the actress and producer is survived by both Jolie and son James Haven, both of whom she shared with ex-husband Jon Voight.

Bertrand’s mother and sister also died after battling cancer.“In June, I will be a month away from the age when she was diagnosed,” Jolie shared in her tribute, which was posted on World Ovarian Cancer Day. “I have had preventive surgeries to try to lessen chances but I continue to have check ups.

My mom loved [Jimi] Hendrix. And would always sign her letters Kiss the Sky. It took on new meaning after she passed. Sending my love to those who have also lost loved ones and strength to those who are fighting at this very moment for their lives and the lives of those they love.

And to other women, please take the time to look after yourself and go for your mammograms and blood tests or ultrasounds, particularly if you have a family history of cancer.”Jolie made headlines in 2013 when she elected to have surgery to prevent cancer. “We often speak of ‘Mommy’s mommy,’ and I find myself trying to explain the illness that took her away from us,” the Girl, Interrupted star wrote in a May 2013 essay for The New York Times. “They have asked if the same could happen to me.