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Mark Wahlberg Shares Rare Throwback Photo With Daughter Ahead of Her 18th Birthday

It’s an eventful time of year for the Wahlberg family. “Joe Bell” actor Mark Wahlberg and wife Rhea Durham just celebrated their anniversary. Rhea’s birthday was barely a month ago. And now, the parents are gearing up for their eldest child to become an adult. It’s hard to believe, but Ella Rae Wahlberg is turning 18 years old in a month.

Her mind-blown father can’t believe where the time has gone (he’s made roughly 30 movies in the time since Ella’s birth) and he took to Instagram to honor a childhood that once was.

The photo shows Mark Wahlberg with a young Ella in his lap at what appears to be a sporting event of some kind. That would fit, considering the actor’s soft spot for sports, which has infected his two sons, Michael and Brendan. And lest we forget, Ella Rae has a little sister named Grace. The youngest of the Wahlberg brood, she was born in 2010.

But it’s Ella Wahlberg’s big month. And while she may not be making a big deal out of her 18th birthday as it’s still a month away, the emotions are definitely starting to hit dad in the heart. Honestly, seeing a post like this has us in our feelings a bit too.

So one can only imagine what the swarms of diehard Mark Wahlberg fans out there made of the throwback photo.

“Precious. You have a beautiful family Mark,” one Instagram user commented.

“Oh wow! Time sure does go by fast. Hold them and cherish every moment,” another fan added.

“Wait… What?!?!? How is that possible? She was just like 8 yesterday…” someone else observed.

The Time Mark Wahlberg’s Daughter Crashed a Golf Cart

Ah, those mid-teenage years when all you can think about is getting behind the wheel of a car. For Mark Wahlberg, it probably felt like only yesterday that his daughter had the experience.

Being the dedicated dad he is, Wahlberg indulged Ella’s fascination by putting her behind the wheel of a golf cart. Long story short… Ella wasn’t hounding her parents for a chance to drive around the neighborhood after that fateful day.

“We were driving in a golf cart, and we’re supposed to be staying on the path because both sides are lava, and then I told her, ‘Slow down around the corner.’ She didn’t. She’s got music playing and everything and all of a sudden, she starts to go up on the lava and she literally bails out of the cart … leaving me,” Mark Wahlberg told Jimmy Kimmel on his talk show in 2020.

Thankfully, that was 16-year old Ella. One can only hope that the near-adult has improved her driving instincts since then.