Vanessa Bryant shared a collection of throwback snaps on Tuesday to celebrate her daughter Natalia’s 18th birthday.
Going to Instagram, the 38-year-old posted two different photos of herself with her late husband Kobe Bryant and Natalia as a young child.
It comes after Vanessa bravely shared her struggle with grief ahead of the anniversary of the loss of Kobe and their other daughter Gianna, who both tragically died in a helicopter crash last year on 26 January in California.
Heartbreak: Vanessa Bryant shared a collection of fascinating photos with the late Kobe on Tuesday to celebrate the 18th birthday of their daughter Natalia
In the throwback photos shared Tuesday, he saw Vanessa and Kobe posing sweetly with Natalia at the Lakers Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, in the early 2000s.
She nodded: ‘We love you so much! Happy Birthday !!!! Our first born @nataliabryant. ‘
While a different snap saw Kobe holding young Natalia in his arms, Vanessa wrote: ‘Daddy’s little princess, Natalia. ❤️ # 18 #BirthdayGirl. ‘
Vanessa also shared a sweet photo of Natalia recently as she commented on how proud she is of her daughter after ‘the most difficult year of our lives’.
‘Daddy’s little princess’: Going to Instagram, the 38-year-old also posted a sweet photo of Kobe holding young Natalia in her arms, which she titled:’ Daddy’s little princess, Natalia. ❤️ # 18 #BirthdayGirl. ‘
She wrote: ‘Dear Natalia, happy birthday to you! Mommy and Daddy are so proud of the young lady that you are. You have shown so much strength and grace during the most difficult year of our lives.
‘Thank you for coming in to help me with your little sisters. You are such an amazing big sister and a beautiful role model for so many people. Thank you for being kind, polite and gracious in everything you do.
‘You have no idea how happy and proud Mum and Dad are to be our daughter. We love you always and forever, forever and ever.
’18th happy birthday to the first person we were born, Natalia, our principal! Always Love, Mommy, Daddy, Gigi, BB and Koko❤️. ‘
Proud: Vanessa also recently shared a photo of Natalia describing how proud she is of her daughter after ‘the most difficult year of our lives’
Tragic: It comes after Vanessa bravely shares her struggle with grief ahead of the anniversary of the loss of Kobe and their other daughter Gianna, who both died tragically in a helicopter crash last year on January 26 in California (pictured together in 2016)
It comes after Vanessa bravely shared her struggle with grief ahead of the anniversary of the loss of Kobe and their other daughter Gianna, who both tragically died in a helicopter crash last year on 26 January in California.
“Let me be real – Grief is a huge collection of emotions,” Vanessa wrote in an Instagram Story on Friday. ‘One day you’re just laughing and the next day you don’t feel like you’re alive.’
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 I try to push that feeling for them. Death is certain but not survival for the rest of the day. Find your reason. ‘
Emotional: ‘Let me be real – Grief is a huge collection of emotions,’ Vanessa wrote in an Instagram Story on Friday
The appointment came after Vanessa spent her first Christmas since the death of her husband and daughter
At the time, she was they posted an interesting message on Instagram, writing: ‘Always Together, Never Apart Together Forever In Our Hearts’ along with a moving photo of her family.
Vanessa also shared a black-and-white family photo in which Natalia’s daughters, four-year-old Bianka and Capri, sit on a sofa.
Before his sad death, Kobe had called Vanessa ‘Queen’ and their ‘princesses’ in an attractive post on Instagram to mark 20 years since they first met in November 2019.
Going up: The appointment came after Vanessa spent her first Christmas since the death of her husband and daughter (pictured in 2018)
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. ‘
Kobe met Vanessa in 1999 when she was 17 and worked as a background model on music video. The couple engaged six months later and married in 2001.
They welcomed Natalia’s daughters in 2003, Gianna in 2006, Bianka in 2016 and Capri in 2019.
So sad: Before he sadly passed away, Kobe had called Vanessa the ‘Queen’ and their ‘princesses’ in an attractive post on Instagram to mark 20 years since they first met in November 2019
Kobe and daughter Gianna, an avid basketball player herself, had been on their way to Mamba Academy for basketball practice when their helicopter crashed at about 10am. The other seven people on board were also tragically 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 among the dead.