Brooke Hogan chose to honor her late father, Hulk Hogan, in her own way.
The funeral for the professional wrestling icon — who died of a heart attack at age 71 on July 24 — was held in Florida on Tuesday, August 5, and Brooke, 37, was not in attendance. Instead, she marked the day by sharing an Instagram carousel filled with photos of her and her family at the beach, explaining how she paid tribute to the WWE legend in her heartfelt caption.
“My father hated the morbidity of funerals. He didn’t want one,” she revealed in the caption. “And although I know people grieve in many ways – and I’m so grateful for all celebrations and events organized to honor him, as his daughter, I had to make my own decision to honor him the best and most genuine way I knew how…privately…the way that made me feel the closest to him.”
“The only thing missing today was him in is pop up lawn chair watching the waves… and the sunset 💔,” she continued.
Brooke, who shares 6-month-old twins, Oliver Andrew and Molly Gene, with husband Steven Oleksy, said she did what felt right for her.
“Daddy, we honored you in the simplest way that agreed with my soul. We took our babies to the beach, and put them in the same salty waters you loved,” she wrote.
“Molly loved the water. I think she’ll be a ‘little fish’ as you called me. We love you and honor the things that made you so special,” she penned. “Every grain of sand and every wave reminded me of being your beach baby, and brought us closer to you. I pray you are at peace and know how dearly I love you. Rest in heaven, Daddy❤️.”
Brooke’s absence from Hulk’s funeral comes on the same day she called into The Bubba the Love Sponge Show and raised questions about her father’s health prior to his death.
“They’re saying he had leukemia, and I’m like, I saw his blood work every time,” she stated on the show. “One doctor, I quote, said, ‘His blood is like a 25-year-old.’”
“For me, the no autopsy and the leukemia out of nowhere hits me as BS,” Brooke continued. “I would be surprised that a surgeon would work on somebody with leukemia or somebody that would see a high white blood cell count and not do further investigation first.”
Brooke had a complicated relationship with her dad that was full of ups and downs. The mother of two made an Instagram post after he passed, shedding some light on their relationship over the years.
“We never had a ‘big fight,’” she admitted. “It was a series of private phone calls no one will ever hear, know or understand. My father was confiding in me about issues weighing on his heart, both personal and business.”
Brooke noted that she and her NHL player husband moved to Florida to be near Hulk, and was there for 25 of his surgeries — but her dad eventually pushed her away.
“Everything started getting covered in a thick veil,” she recounted. “It was like there was a forcefield around him that I couldn’t get through.”
Brooke confessed that she had to “step away” from their relationship the past two years to “protect my heart.”
“I know in my heart I did everything I could,” she added. “He knew I would run through a burning building for him. And in many ways, along the path of life, I did.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source starmagazine.com ’
