Valerie Bertinelli and her ex-husband Tom Vitale finalized their divorce in 2022. In 2024, Valerie is celebrating. On the anniversary — November 22, to be exact — the Hot in Cleveland star shared a quote on Instagram: “I didn’t know how I was going to get through it, but I knew that somehow, I would.”
In the caption of her post, she explained that she shared the quote because she is celebrating “two years of freedom.” Valerie and her ex-husband Tom were married for 11 years. Toward the end of their marriage, they “became very unkind to one another” and she eventually reached her “breaking point,” she previously told People.
Her recent Instagram post sheds more light on what she was dealing with leading up to her divorce, and how she has grown in the past two years.
Valerie wrote: “Two years of walking through self doubt and doing my best to get to the other side.” Adding, “Two years of knowing that I didn’t deserve to tolerate the intolerable. Two years of working through shame and self loathing.”
More from LittleThings: Clay Aiken Opens Up About Fatherhood & His Decision To Keep His Son Out Of The Spotlight
Valerie also noted that she has been “working to find [her] true self.”
She also mentioned her boyfriend Mike Goodnough, whom she reportedly broke up with after 10 months together, a source previously told People. In the sweet shoutout, she thanked Mike for helping her “[feel] love again.”
In addition to finding love again, the aftermath of her divorce has also involved “confronting past demons and traumas and doing my best to work through them.”
Valerie explained, “I want to be the best, most authentic version of myself heading into this last chapter of my life.” She added, “I am learning that until I love myself and accept myself, all of me, my dark and light sides, I can never give someone else the love and emotional vulnerability that they need and deserve.”
Later in her post, she thanked her “friends and family for being with me through all of it” and Mike “for being such a big part of my growth this year.”
“I’m grateful for our experience and I’m so grateful I met you,” she wrote to her ex-boyfriend.
“And to all of you in my online community, I’m so grateful for you,” Valerie continued. “I’m grateful for your feedback. I’m grateful for your compassion.”
At the end of her divorce anniversary post, Valerie had a message for those who might be struggling right now. “I’ve been there and some days I can still be there but I want you to know it does get better,” she said. “I promise you. It gets better. Some days will still be hard and challenging, but on other days, the light will shine brighter and you will feel it.”
