Eddie Van Halen's Ex Details Final Moments with Rocker on Deathbed

Actress Valerie Bertinelli just debuted her latest novel, Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect, where she poses nude on the cover. The New York Times bestselling author's new book details the lessons she’s learned about aging, letting go, and self-worth. She also reminisces on her marriage to legendary musician Eddie Van Halen, who she was married to from 1981 to 2007.

Bertinelli Details Life With Van Halen—and Her Final Moment With Him

Bertinelli wrote about Van Halen being “such a good man” with a “pure” heart, noting that “he wanted to be the right person, the good person that he already was.”

Although Bertinelli and Van Halen got divorced in 2007, Bertinelli revealed that the couple was “madly in love starting out.” They first met at a concert backstage, then hung out at Van Halen’s hotel. Fast-forward to three days later, and the musician invited Bertinelli to join him on the road. The rest was history.

“At the last Thanksgiving we shared, he took me outside and opened his heart in a way he said was way past due. We both did. We found a place of deep love and forgiveness for our past mistakes,” Bertinelli wrote.

Van Halen passed away in October 2020 at the age of 65 after suffering from a stroke and enduring a long battle with throat cancer.

“My final words to him when he was taking his last breaths in the hospital were ‘I love you,’” Bertinelli wrote, noting that to this day, Van Halen’s passing completely breaks her heart.

“He was making amends the year before he passed. He was talking to all the people in his life,” she penned. “He was cold-calling them. It was sweet—and that was Ed at the core, sweet.”

Bertinelli on Posing Nude for Her Book Cover

While Bertinelli says posing nude for the cover of Getting Naked was “my stupid bright idea,” she enjoyed it.

“Because getting naked emotionally was the most important part of the book, I thought 'Well, I might as well expose myself there too,'” Bertinelli told PEOPLE in the outlet’s cover story. “Part of me also feels like at this age, if I can look good, do it. And I don’t know what I’m going to look like when I’m 80 but at 65 it looks pretty f---ing good. I think you’re allowed to feel good about yourself. I have felt bad about myself for too many decades. I’m going to feel good about myself now.”

Bertinelli reminisced about her iconic 2009 bikini photo after losing weight through Nutri-System, saying that posing for her book cover made her feel even more empowered.

“I was a good 20 pounds thinner and my body was definitely tighter but I think it felt better doing this,” the actress said. “I’m never going to do it again but it was fun to try it once. I’ve got this weird quirk that if I'm afraid of something I’m going to walk right through it. And I did.”