Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson surprised his mom, Ata Johnson, with a new house, and posted a series of videos to his Instagram over the weekend documenting the big reveal.
One clip captured Ata, 73, approaching the threshold before walking through her home’s front doors for the first time, all set to the famed “Over the Rainbow” cover by late Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole.
Above the entrance hangs a sign reading “Le Samoana” — presumably a nod to his mom’s Samoan ancestry.
“When I was a little boy, I hated when my mom would cry ~ these days, I’ll happily take her tears of joy,” the Rock, 50, wrote of his mom’s touching reaction to seeing the abode, which he and a “design team” worked on for eight weeks.
He continued on, stating how he has been “lucky enough to have bought her a few homes over the years, 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.’
“Mom, there’s no greater feeling than to make you happy ~ welcome home 🏠❤️🌺,” he continued.
The Rock subsequently gave his mom a tour of the house, and, in two additional videos, he pointed out various meaningful aspects of its interior décor.
In one, his mom enters a room in which her collection of vintage ukuleles is mounted on a wall. Of the photographs also visible in the space, The Rock wrote, “I was able to unearth pictures of our ancestors that she hasn’t seen since she was a child growing up in Samoa.”
The final clip chronicled the moment his mom discovered her “new ‘Smackdown Room’ … where she keeps the coolest Rock/DJ memorabilia,” explained The Rock 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 🙅🏽♂️😂,” he continued.
“But, truth is, 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.”
The conclusion of the initial post’s caption says everything about The Rock’s rationale for bringing to fruition the moving gesture: “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.”
