Vanessa Bryant Posts Heartbreaking Tribute To Kobe And Gigi On Instagram

Vanessa Bryant posts touching tribute to Kobe and Gigi — and thanks fans for the overwhelming love

Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram tonight, to thank fans for the overwhelming outpouring of love and support since the tragic deaths of her husband, Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna.

“My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time,” she wrote. “Thank you for all the prayers. We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B77K8XWDY7O/

“I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved,” she continued. “We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”

Vanessa and Kobe had four beautiful children, and no mother, wife, partner should ever have to endure such a devastating loss. Even though she’s enduring a nightmare no mother or wife should, she still took the time to remember all the other people who’ve suffered devastating losses. “We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately,” she wrote of the other families who also suffered devastating losses that day. “There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now.” In addition, she’s setting up a fund for the other families affected. “To honor our Team Mamba family, the Mamba Sports Foundation has set up the MambaOnThree Fund to help support the other families affected by this tragedy. To donate, please go to MambaOnThree.org.”

Kobe and Vanessa have been together since he was just 20 years old and she was still in high school. According to Entertainment Tonight, they met on the set of a video shoot in 1999, and got engaged when she was 18. On the day of their 12th anniversary in 1993, Kobe shared a picture of the day they met on his Instagram page.

“We celebrate 12 years of marriage today,” he wrote. “This pic is the day I asked @ladyvb24 for her number 11/28/99. Thru the ups and downs she has been my love and best friend. 20 and 17 yrs old when we met, we have actually grown up together…”

It was evident in all of the images, anecdotes, and stories that Kobe adored his family. One cannot find the words of comfort to offer someone going through such a devastating loss. It feels impossible. We hope their memories are a blessing to this family, and wish everyone who lost someone so precious that day strength and peace.