Vanessa Bryant opens about her struggle with grief, just a week ahead of the anniversary of the loss of her late husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant, who both died tragically in a helicopter crash last year on Jan. 26 in California.
‘Let me be real – Grief is a huge collection of emotions,’ Vanessa, 38, wrote in an Instagram Story on Friday. ‘One day you’re just laughing and the next day you don’t feel like living.’
She continued: ‘I want to say this for people who are struggling with grief and heart loss. Find your reason for living. I know it’s sad. I look at my daughters and try to push that feeling for them. Death is certain but not survival for the rest of the day. Find your reason. ‘
‘Find your reason for living’: Vanessa Bryant struggles with grief ahead of the anniversary of the death of the late husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gigi
The appointment comes after Vanessa spent her first Christmas since her daughter died, and posted an interesting message on Instagram, writing: ‘Always Together, Never Apart Together Forever In Our Hearts. ‘
The black-and-white family portrait also features Natalia’s 17-year-old daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri, standing next to Christmas trees.
The two were actively involved on social media before passing, and the basketball star named Vanessa the Queen and their daughters ‘princesses’ in a compelling post on Instagram to mark 20 years since they first met when she was in high school – just weeks before he died.
Kobe and Vanessa at the 2018 Vanity Fair Oscars bass
He wrote: ‘On this day 20 years ago I met my best friend, my Queen @vanessabryant I decided to take her on a date to Disneyland tonight to celebrate old school style (pre 4princesses).
‘I love you my mamacita per semper.’
Kobe loved his family and in a previous post after retiring in 2016 he wrote: ‘I am so happy to see what God has for us as a family now that one chapter of his closing and opening new ones. ‘
Vanessa Bryant shares a Christmas family photo with her late husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gigi: ‘Always together, never apart’
Remember: The black-and-white family photo also included daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri
He met Vanessa in 1999 when she was 17 and worked as a background model on music video and they became engaged six months later and married in 2001.
Kobe was 21 and had played three seasons in the NBA.
There was a huge media frenzy surrounding their relationship in the early days with a television helicopter once flying over Vanessa’s high school campus trying to picture them together.
The couple pictured here with their two eldest daughters, Natalia (right) and Gianna (front) at the 2016 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Sports Awards in Los Angeles
The intensity of their relationship made her miss her prom in high school.
Kobe’s family is said to have refused to attend their low-key wedding because they were worried it was too young to get married and worried there was no pre-nup agreement.
In 2003, the year their daughter Natalia was born, Kobe was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old teenager in a Colorado hotel. Rape charges were later dropped after he declared a consensus and Vanessa appeared with him at a press conference where he admitted he was cheating on her.
The teardrop star said to his wife: ‘You are my backbone. You are a blessing. You are a piece of my heart. You are the air I breathe. ‘
KOBE Bryant made a moving compliment to his wife Vanessa just weeks before the tragic helicopter crash in which he died with his daughter
He said: ‘And you are the strongest man I know, and I am so sorry that I have to put you through this and that we have to put our family through this.’
The prosecutor was dismissed after all charges.
The couple had a heart attack in 2005 when Vanessa suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy. He later blamed himself for the pressure he put through.
Speaking in the Showtime documentary, Kobe Bryant’s Muse said: ‘We should be raising our family. But because of my mistake, because of this difficult year, we lost a child. ‘
The couple had their second daughter Gianna in 2006.
But in 2011 their relationship was on the rocks again and Vanessa filed for divorce announcing ‘incredible differences’ and was expected to get half of Kobe’s $ 150million fortune in the settlement.
However, two years later they said the divorce was canceled and in 2016 they had their third daughter Bianca.
Kobe and Gianna, an avid basketball player herself, had been on their way to Mamba Academy for basketball practice when the chopper crashed at about 10am.
The other seven people on board were also killed.
The pilot – known locally as Ara Zobayan – was trying to turn the plane over when it crashed into the hills of Las Virgenes Canyon, which is home to celebrities including the Kardashians.
Orange Coast College football coach John Altobelli, his wife Kerry, and their daughter Alyssa were also among the dead.