Eddie Van Halen’s ex-wife says they ‘came to a wonderful place’ before he died

Actress Valerie Bertinelli recently opened up about the time she spent with her ex-husband, Eddie Van Halen, during his final days.

In her new cookbook, “Indulge,” Bertinelli, 63, wrote that, “though we got divorced, Ed and I never stopped loving each other. Who knows, if not for cancer, we might have had a second wind,” although she added, “I’m pretty sure that is wistful thinking.”

“Wistful is a very different word than wishful. It was a wistful fantasy that I knew would never be true. The love that Ed and I shared − and we did come to a very wonderful place at the end of his life − was our unconditional love for our son,” she said. “My son was losing his father, I was in a relationship that was terribly wrong for me, and I was holding onto some sort of lifeline because of the years I had with Ed.”

“I was madly in love with him when I met him, but our love changed. He felt like a big brother to me that I just wanted the best for by the time he got very sick. All I wanted to do was make it OK for Ed, make it OK for Wolfie,” she continued. “You fantasize and romanticize what you know really never could be.”

Bertinelli, who hosted the Food Network show “Valerie’s Home Cooking,” broke up with Van Halen in 2002 after being married for 21 years. They have one son, Wolfgang Van Halen, who fronts the band Mammoth WVH.