Vanessa Bryant Shares Heartbreaking Post on Anniversary of Kobe and Gianna’s Deaths

On the one-year anniversary of Kobe and Gianna Bryant’s deaths, Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram, where she shared a touching letter she received from one of Gigi’s friends.

“Today I received this sweet letter from one of Gianna’s best friends, Aubrey,” she wrote alongside the letter itself. “Thank you so much for beautifully sharing some of your memories of my Gigi with me and allowing me to share them here on my ig. 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.”

With their absence still weighing heavy, she 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. Kob, we did it right. Gigi, you still make mommy proud. I love you!” The letter itself sees Aubrey write of her appreciation for Gigi, and that if she ever becomes a mother, “I hope my daughter turns out exactly as yours did.”

Aubrey adds that Gianna pushed for her “to be better,” and that her “fights for equality in sports made the world reconsider their opinions.” Read Aubrey’s full letter to Vanessa below.

Kobe and Gianna died in a helicopter accident alongside seven others while en route to a basketball game on Jan. 26. Gianna was 13, and Kobe was 41. Just over a week ago, Vanessa opened up about how she struggled with her grief following their deaths. “I want to say this for people struggling with grief and heartbreaking loss. Find your reason to live. I know it’s hard,” she wrote on Instagram. “I look at my daughters and I try to push through that feeling for them.”