Over the weekend, mega-action star Dwayne Johnson proved once again he’s a softy at heart and an amazing son.
In a series of moving social media clips, “The Rock” walks his mother, Ata Johnson, through the big, beautiful home he just bought her.
In the first clip, where she enters the front door for the first time, Johnson included the caption, “I surprised my mom and bought her a new home. Took me and my design team 8 weeks to get it ready, where she could walk thru her front door for the very first time and everything she saw was brand new and a total surprise.”
It takes all of two seconds before mom starts to tear up at the sight of the spacious foyer that includes a family photo on the wall.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have bought her a few homes over the years,” Johnson wrote, “but this one is special as she’s told me over and over these past few years, ‘After a lifetime of traveling, I want this home to be my last. That’s my dream.’”
It’s clear from her response that Ata knows her dream has just come true.
“When I was a little boy, I hated when my mom would cry,” wrote Johnson. “These days, I’ll happily take her tears of joy.”
That clip is supported by a nice, ukulele version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” a thoughtful touch, as becomes more apparent in the next clip.
As Ata enters we see a wall of ukuleles and another with framed family photos. The "Jumanji" star begins explaining the photos, but stops, as we start to notice his mother crying, and he just lets her take it all in.
“Brought my mom into her new family room where we placed her vintage ukuleles up on the wall and I was able to unearth pictures of our ancestors that she hasn’t seen since she was a child growing up in Samoa. She misses her mom and dad," he continued. "I miss them too.”
The final clip adds a little fun, as Johnson explains, “Introducing my mom to her new ‘Smackdown Room.’ In her homes she always has her ‘Smackdown Room’ where she keeps the coolest Rock/DJ memorabilia but over the years they’ve become insanely crowded - so for her new home, I had these cool built ins made and just added only a few memorabilia items - posters, University of Miami game balls, movie awards, championship titles etc.
Figured she can add whatever she wants from here."
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Once again though, mom can’t help putting her hands to her face and tearing up. Johnson tried to add a little levity in the caption: "This is her favorite room to bring guests to and it’s my least favorite because the last thing I want to do is stand in a DJ Shrine while people look around as my mom takes them thru at all the stuff I’ve done. No thanks.”
“But, truth is,” he continued, “when I’m BY MYSELF 😊, these Smackdown rooms she creates have such positive energy and beautiful mana. Always a good reminder for me to never forget where I came and always be grateful for grind.”
As Complex reminded, surprising people is a consistent act for the "Fast & Furious" star. He recently surprised a fan suffering from a brain tumor with a Facetime call. And in December, he gave his “People’s Champion” award at the People’s Choice Awards to a big fan, via Make-a-Wish.
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And this isn’t even the first big gift that The Rock has sprung on his unsuspecting mother. Last Christmas, his giving mood continued when he made like a modern-day Elvis Presley and surprised his mother with a brand new Cadillac.
In the clip, Johnson sums up his gift with the message, "I always say, if you got a good mom then you got a shot at becoming a good, caring human being. Let’s all give our mamas a big grateful squeeze this weekend and make ‘em happy."
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