Photo: Buddy Valastro/Instagram
It has been nearly 30 years sinceBuddy Valastro’s father died but the celebrity chef still thinks about him daily.
“Life just isn’t the same without you…” theCake Bossstar, 45, wrote in the caption of anInstagram carouselposted Sunday, which would have been his dad’s birthday. “You’re in my thoughts everyday and that’s how it will always be.”
“You’re up in heaven now but you’ll always be with me. Happy birthday Dad, missing you today and always, I love you,” he finished before adding a note in Italian to send his love to his late mother Mary. “Tanti baci a Momma.”
Buddy Sr. died of lung cancer at age 54 in 1994.
“My dad wanted me to know what it was like to be everybody in the bakery,” Valastro toldPEOPLE in 2010. “The thing is, everything they made me do, I was good at.”
Buddy Valastro/Instagram
Valastro now runs the confectionary empire with help from his four sisters, three brothers-in-law, wife Lisa and their four children (Sofia, 19,Buddy Jr., 18, Marco, 15 andCarlo, 11) and other family members. His mother Mary worked at the original bakery until she died from ALS in 2017 at age 69.
John W. Ferguson/Getty.
At the time, Buddy said he decided to speak out about his mother’s life and legacy because of her fans' thoughtful reactions to her passing. A few days after Mary died, there were dozens of flowers and mass cards left in front of the bakery. “Everyone was so supportive,” he said. “There were so many people who prayed for her, loved her and that’s why I’m doing this. I want people to know what happened and I want to thank them for always being supportive of her.”
source: people.com
