Valerie Bertinelli, actress and ex-wife of late guitar legend Eddie Van Halen, took to Instagram on the anniversary of his passing with a message for haters.
Bertinelli and Van Halen were married for 26 years from 1981 to 2007, and are the parents of Wolfgang Van Halen.
To mark the sixth anniversary of EVH’s passing on Tuesday, Bertinelli shared a photo of herself and Eddie in a car, with the caption, “Photos may fade, like old photos do, but not the memories and never the love.”
Related Video
The photo drew a number of critical comments regarding her continued fondness for Eddie after a contentious marriage in which the guitarist battled alcoholism.
Bertinelli followed the post with a video message, saying, “It does not take long for me to get a lot of pushback when I post a picture of me and Ed. It used to really bother me. It does not, not anymore. Not any longer, because I learned a lot.”
She continued, “So they’ll never quite say the words, ‘You’re not allowed to love your ex-husband,’ but they berate you and berate you for months, make you think you’re crazy until you finally say, ‘OK, fine, I don’t love him.’”
Bertinelli went on to say, “They will never say, ‘Take that picture down, the one of your ex-husband along with you and your son in better days.’ They’ll never say take it down. But [they’ll say] that you’re obsessed, say all kinds of fucked up shit until you take the picture down. Coercive control is insidious and it’s soul-breaking, and I cannot believe that I fucking fell for it.”
She concluded, “My heart can hold a lot of love. I have a big piece right here that’s got Ed’s name all over it. And Wolfie’s name. And my daughter-in-law. And my mother. And my cats. And my girlfriends. And all the people that I love in my life. My heart can hold it all. And, if I ever fall in love again, I’ll make room in my heart for that person, without it touching the love I have for Ed, my son, my daughter-in-law, all the people that I love. Your heart opens up. Because your heart can hold a lot of love. All of our hearts can. So you can’t bother me. I love Ed. Never stopped loving Ed. And my heart loves a lot. Don’t you wish yours could, too?”
See both posts from Valerie Bertinelli below.