Valerie Bertinelli posts old family photos with Eddie Van Halen to mark son’s 30th birthday
Valerie Bertinelli honored a landmark birthday for son Wolfgang Van Halen.
On Wednesday, the former “One Day at a Time” star celebrated Van Halen turning 30 with a video montage of photos on her Instagram page. It features pictures of him over the years with her, along with his father and her ex-husband, Eddie Van Halen, who died last year at the age of 65.
“Happy birthday @wolfvanhalen I’m so ridiculously proud of the man you are,” she captioned the post, which is set to the Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun.”
“You’ve been through so much (more than anyone will ever know) and you are still kind, thoughtful, thankful, and gracious - with a wicked, sarcastic sense of humor. I know your father agrees that the happiest day of our lives was the day you were born. I love you to the moon and back, sweet boy...”
“Love you to the moon and back, Ma!!!!” Van Halen wrote in the comments.
On Wednesday, Van Halen thanked his mother on his own page for getting him a cake with the logo of his solo musical project, Mammoth WVH, while also sharing another photo of himself as a kid.
“This little doofus is 30 now,” he wrote.
Bertinelli and Wolfgang Van Halen have been vocal about the hurt they're enduring since Eddie Van Halen’s death. Most recently, Wolfgang expressed disappointment over the way his father was honored during last weekend’s Grammy Awards during the in memoriam segment of the ceremony.
"It was my understanding that there would be an 'In Memoriam' section where bits of songs were performed for legendary artists that had passed,” he wrote on Instagram. “I didn't realize that they would only show Pop for 15 seconds in the middle of 4 full performances for others we had lost."
Bertinelli, who was married to Eddie Van Halen from 1981 until 2007, said she's had trouble carrying on after his death, keeping in mind all of the good times they had.
"It’s been rough. Very bittersweet,” she said on TODAY in January.
Wolfgang Van Halen has also been open about his coping and believing his father is looking down on him. His song "Distance," which appears on his upcoming debut album, features the lyrics, “No matter what the distance is, I will be with you.” He says that line holds special meaning for him.
He said on TODAY last month: “It’s almost like a mantra for you when you lose someone that’s as important to you as a parent or really anyone that plays a large role in your life, and that’s kind of my mantra when I think about my dad.”