Melrose Place actress Heather Locklear, 62, knows what a lucky mom she is. The blonde beauty took to Instagram on Wednesday, October 4, to pay tribute to her only daughter, Ava Sambora, for her big 26th birthday. In the first throwback pic, Heather carried her baby girl on her hip, and in the second they smiled together with Ava as a toddler. The third pic showed Heather and her mini me snuggling up for a close-up as Ava reached school-age. In the fourth, fifth, and sixth snapshots, beautiful Ava happily blew out tall pink candles on a cake.
“Happy Birthday to my favorite person on earth!” the iconic actress captioned the post. “You are stronger, smarter, and more beautiful than you can ever imagine. I’m so glad God trusted me to be your mama.” Heather has several hundred thousand fans on the platform, many of whom took to the comments thread to react to the tribute post.
“She’s so lovely. Well done Mama,” wrote a fan, with another remarking, “Awww, Happy Birthday to your baby.” The most notable comment, however, came from the birthday girl herself! “My whole heart!!! I love you beyond words. Thank you for being my mama,” gushed Ava, alongside a row of celebratory emojis.
Ava was born to the stunning actress and Bon Jovi rocker Richie Sambora back in 1997. In October of 2020, Ava gushed to PEOPLE about her famous mom. “My mom always taught me to be kind to whomever I met,” she recalled of her upbringing by the famous actress, who divorced Richie back in 2007. “She treats every person with respect and makes them feel important. While she embodies kindness in many ways, her ability to care for and give to others is what I admire most. She is selfless and inspires me to be selfless as well.”