Losing a parent is never easy. Thankfully, for Wolf Van Halen, he had his mom to lean on after his dad, Eddie Van Halen, passed away.
During a recent interview with People, Van Halen opened up about his new closeness with his mother, Valerie Bertinelli. According to the son of the rock legend, his dad’s tragic death allowed him to bond with his mother.
“My girlfriend and I pretty much go over to my mom’s house every day to see her and play with her cats that we love,” the 30-year-old said.
He added, “I think a lot of people don’t understand how sarcastic our relationship is. One time, she burnt onion rings. And it’s like, she has a cooking show, so I just made fun of her for it. I asked her if I could post it. We get in GIF battles all the time on Twitter. Sarcasm is a language, And that’s how we communicate!”
As for Bertinelli, she gushed over her son. “Besides the fact that he is ridiculously talented, I’m most proud of his kindness and thoughtfulness,” the actress said in the interview. She was married to the late Eddie Van Halen for 25 years.
Wolf Van Halen Thankful for Laughter, Love, and Normalcy
“I think we both like to find humor in the absurd. This world is a seriously crazy place, and it’s easier to get through it by finding it funny and absurd. Sometimes laughing is better than crying,” the 61-year-old added.
And her son couldn’t agree more. According to him, he got his sarcastic sense of humor from both his parents. “People are very quick to remind me that I look like both my parents, which I have to tell them, it’s like, ‘Wow, science. Who’d have guessed it?'” he said. “But yeah, I’m certainly a combination of both my parents. That’s for sure.”
Although growing up with two famous parents, Van Halen said that his parents made sure to give him a “really great, normal childhood.” He added, “My mom did a really good job at grounding me in my childhood,” he said proudly. “It felt completely normal. It wasn’t lavish or insane.”
As for Van Halen’s favorite piece of advice from his late Grammy award-winning dad? As it turns out, it also has some humor in it: “If you ever make a mistake, do it twice so everybody thinks you meant to do it.”
Jokes aside, he finished the interview by gushing that his dad was his “biggest champion” other than his mom.
