By now, most of us are aware of Aaron Paul‘s golden heart, thanks to his reliable, endearing social media posts that connect him with his fans, along with his charming interviews and charitable endeavors. Part of what makes him so endearing is that even though he’s a well-paid and wildly successful actor, his fame hasn’t gotten to his head and he is constantly expressing his gratitude for his experiences and his loved ones.
Recently, the Breaking Bad actor and Idaho native, who came of age during the grunge era of the early ’90s, displayed his love for Pearl Jam in a lengthy, heartfelt Instagram caption accompanying a photograph of him with Eddie Vedder. In it, he describes saving up all of his loose change as a youngster to buy himself a birthday present — the group’s first album, Ten, in 1991. “It was my 12th birthday and I showed up to this small record store inside of our local mall with a sock full of change,” he wrote, adding that when he got home, he was “beaming.”
Pre-teen Aaron arrived home to an empty house, eager to revel in his new purchase. Listening to a grunge album alone is an important turning point for any kid who experienced the early ’90s, but after a few hours, he began to worry about why no one was around. (Do you feel his angst and mixed emotions?)
I opened the door to my home and I could feel the silence in my bones. My house was empty. Now you need to know that I come from a very large family and to walk inside of our home with nobody there was extremely rare. I mean it was my birthday after all and nobody was home. I was alone. Where was everyone? So then of course I took advantage of the situation and put the record on and turned it up. For hours and hours just listening to this record over and over again. But where was everyone? Seriously.
Not to worry, though: It just so happened that another exciting milestone was occurring simultaneously:
Eventually the house phone rang with this music blaring in the background and I ran to pick it up hoping it was my mother singing happy birthday to me. It was my mother but she wasn’t singing…She said…”Honey, we’re at the hospital”….My heart sank and time stood still and all I could hear was Eddie singing in the background. My mother then explained to me that my sister had just given birth. She had given birth to a little girl the same day pearl jams first album came out. On my birthday. So many emotions went thru me on that day and this man was a huge part of that.
The post concludes as he admits that he loves a good “coming of age story.” And becoming an uncle on the day you buy your first rock and roll album has to be one of the sweetest ones of all.
