American actress/television personality Valerie Bertinelli, also known as the former wife of Eddie Van Halen and mother of son Wolfgang, has shared the guitarist's final words spoken prior to his passing.
Written in Bertinelli's new book – Enough Already: Learning To Love The Way I Am Today, set for release on January 18 – she documents what happened at the Van Halen guitarist's death, along with who was present and what happened afterwards.
An excerpt from the memoir was recently published in People magazine, which details that she was at Eddie's death bed, alongside son Wolfgang and other family members, including second wife, Janie Liszewski, and his brother, Alex Van Halen.
According to Bertinelli, the rocker's death happened in "slow motion", and it was Wolfgang who alerted her to Eddie's deteriorating condition, stating that her son called her to say that "Ed's breathing has changed" and that she had to get to the hospital "ASAP".
Detailing his last moment, she writes, "'I love you' are the last words Ed says to Wolfie and me, and they are the last words we say to him before he stops breathing". Following his passing, his ex-wife cites that the family sat in silence before swapping amusing stories about the musician.
"Suddenly, all of us are cracking up," Bertinelli wrote. "We laugh — and it is so much better than crying."
She also reveals that a few days before Eddie's death, while they both cried, she said to him, "Maybe next time, right? Maybe next time we'll get it right," referring to their divorce in 2002, following 21 years of marriage.
Speaking of their early relationship and their life-long bond, she writes, "We were portrayed as a mismatch. The bad boy rock star and America's sweetheart but privately, Ed wasn't the person people thought he was and neither was I.
"I can't explain the feelings Ed and I had for each other. Who really knows had he not died. I doubt it. I loved him more than I know how to explain and there's nothing sexual about it. It was more than that. And Ed and I understood that.
"There is no greater love than what we had between the two of us and with that, we made this beautiful son," she adds.
Enough Already: Learning To Love The Way I Am Today will be released on January 18.
