Buddy Valastro Shares Sad Tribute to His Late Dad on His Birthday

By Anna Rumer

Buddy Valastro is paying tribute to his father nearly 30 years after Buddy Sr.'s death at 54. The Cake Boss star took to Instagram Sunday to share his thoughts on what would have been his father's birthday, revealing that he still thinks about him every single day.

"Life just isn't the same without you..." the celebrity chef, 45, wrote in the caption of an Instagram post featuring old photos of his father. "You're in my thoughts everyday and that's how it will always be." He continued, "You're up in heaven now but you'll always be with me. Happy birthday Dad, missing you today and always, I love you," before ending with an Italian message for his dad to send his love to his late mother Mary. "Tanti baci a Momma."

Buddy Sr. was the patriarch of the Valastro legacy, recruiting Valastro to join the family business of Carlo's Bakery back in 1988 – first as help around the kitchen before he moved on to decorating cakes by age 15. Buddy Sr. worked side-by-side with his son until his death in 1994, which prompted Valastro to drop out of high school to take over the bakery at just 17 years old. The success of the bakery continued on through the change in ownership, and eventually became the subject of TLC's Cake Boss and sparked Valastro's subsequent success as a celebrity chef. 

Valastro's mother Mary also had a massive impact on his success, as she worked at the original Carlo's Bakery until she died from complications related to ALS in 2017 at 69 years old. Buddy and his siblings were by Mary's side as she passed away. 

"I looked her in the eye, and I told her, 'Ma, I owe everything to you and I couldn't be who I am without you. You're my No. 1 girl, and I'll always love you.' And I got to say my piece, I got to say goodbye to her – which was tough," Valastro told PEOPLE at the time, "I know she's in a better place and she's in heaven and she's with my father singing 'I Will Survive.'" Valastro still runs his Carlo's Bakery empire with the help of his wife Lisa and their four children – Sofia, 19, Buddy Jr., 18, Marco, 15 and Carlo, 11 – as well as his four sisters, their husbands, and other family members. 

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