Celebrity Celebrity Family Celebrity Family Dynamics Gwyneth Paltrow Honors Late Father on Thanksgiving with Apple, 16, and Moses, 14: 'Loves of My Life' The actress' dad Bruce Paltrow died in 2002 at age 58 By Benjamin VanHoose Benjamin VanHoose Benjamin VanHoose is an Associate Editor on the Movies team at PEOPLE. He has written about entertainment and breaking news for over five years. People Editorial Guidelines Published on November 27, 2020 08:54AM EST Photo: Gwyneth Paltrow/ instagram Gwyneth Paltrow spent her Thanksgiving honoring her late father Bruce Paltrow on what would have been his 77th birthday. The Oscar winner, 48, posted a photo of herself on Instagram alongside her two children — daughter Apple Blythe Alison, 16, and son Moses Bruce Anthony, 14, whom she shares with ex Chris Martin — as she opened up about the "highs and lows" of life. Paltrow's director father had a years-long battle with throat cancer before dying in 2002 at age 58. "On this November 26th, I was able to visit my father's resting place (on his birthday) with these two loves of my life," the Politician actress wrote. "Happy thanksgiving. Life has incredible highs and lows. Perhaps feeling it all at the same time is the art. 💖" Paltrow has previously shared how much her father has inspired her in life. The star — who’s also daughter to actress Blythe Danner — even kept her dad close by marrying her husband Brad Falchuck near the location where his ashes are buried. “For years, I would go into kind of the deepest depression of all time around my birthday and then I thought: ‘I’ve got to reframe this somehow. My father would not want this for me,’ ” she said on the Armchair Experts podcast in March 2019. “My birthday is September 27 and so this past September [2018], I got married on the 29th of September. His ashes are buried under this beautiful tree at my house and we got married there — right near my dad … kind of on my dad,” she joked at the time. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Gwyneth Paltrow Says Daughter Apple, 16, Has a 'Beautiful' Sense of 'Entitlement': 'It's Not Spoiled' Also during the Armchair Experts appearance, Paltrow said she still has a “hard time” with the death of her father, who directed her in his last-ever movie, 2000’s Duets. “I still have a hard time with it,” Paltrow said at the time. “He was such an intentional father, and he was so observant and so deeply supportive and set us up to win all the time.” Back in April, Paltrow told Town & Country about how her dad's health battle placed her on a path toward seeking alternative therapies and ultimately founding Goop. “His treatment was so brutal, I was thinking, almost out of desperation, that we had to be able to do something else to help him,” Paltrow said at the time. “That’s when I started to research food and nutrition.” RELATED VIDEO: Gwyneth Paltrow’s Daughter Apple, 16, Hilariously Reacts to Her Mom’s Nude Birthday Photo RELATED GALLERY: How Celebrities Celebrated Thanksgiving This Year, From Tap Dancing to Vegan Feasts In 2008, Paltrow launched Goop in the form of a newsletter. Since then, the wellness brand has evolved and expanded into a multi-platform company with a loyal fan base. Her continued interest in Goop, she said, is renewed by her desire to live life to its fullest. “I really believe that being alive is just a process of — if you’re not wasting your f------ life — figuring out how you can impact the world positively,” she said. “You can choose to engage in your life and participate in it, or you can back out and criticize everybody else in your arena.” She added: “I think what this wellness movement is really about is listening to yourself, tuning into what interests you, and trying things. Find what makes you feel better and go from there.”