Vanessa Bryant remembers Kobe and Gianna on one-year anniversary of their deaths

Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images(LOS ANGELES) — Vanessa Bryant paid tribute to her late husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Tuesday on the one-year anniversary of their deaths.

The Lakers legend, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others died in a helicopter crash in Southern California on January 26, 2020.

Vanessa shared a letter on Instagram that she received from a friend of Gianna’s and reflected on her painful losses. “Today I received this sweet letter from one of Gianna’s best friends, Aubrey,” she wrote. “I love you Aubz (as my Gigi would call you).”

She expressed her gratitude to Aubrey for sharing her memories of Gianna and allowing her to share the note.

“There are times I get into a pit of despair thinking about her and what she could’ve accomplished had she had a couple more years,” Aubrey wrote in the letter. “But recently I have been thinking about the mark she did leave on this earth. Her fights for equality in sports made the world reconsider there opinions, she along with Mr. Bryant, set the wheels in motion.”

Vanessa wrote, “My Gigi is INCREDIBLE and I truly appreciate your thoughtful letter. She loves you so much.”

“I miss my baby girl and Kob-Kob so much, too,” Vanessa continued. “I will never understand why/how this tragedy could’ve happened to such beautiful, kind and amazing human beings. It still doesn’t seem real.”

Vanessa and Kobe, who were married for 19 years, had four children together: Natalia, 18, Bianka, 4, one-year-old Capri and the late Gianna.

Many friends and fans of the late NBA star shared tributes across social media to mark the somber anniversary.

Vanessa requested media and others to not share footage from the crash scene and asked people to “celebrate their lives, not the day they lost them.”

By Good Morning America
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

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