Vanessa Bryant shared a collection of touching photos of the setback on Tuesday to mark her daughter Natalia’s 18th birthday.
Taking to Instagram, the 38-year-old woman posted two different photos of herself with her late husband Kobe Bryant and Natalia as a child.
This happens after Vanessa courageously shared her struggle with the pain before the anniversary of losing Kobe and her other daughter Gianna, who tragically died in a helicopter crash last year on January 26 in California.
Heartwarming: Vanessa Bryant shared a heartwarming photo collection with her late husband Kobe on Tuesday to mark her daughter Natalia’s 18th birthday
In the kickback photos shared on Tuesday, he saw Vanessa and Kobe pose sweetly with Natalia at the Lakers Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, in early 2000.
She wrote the caption: ‘We love you very much! Happy birthday Natalia !!!! Our first child @nataliabryant. ‘
While a different touching photo saw Kobe holding a young Natalia in her arms, which Vanessa wrote: ‘Daddy’s little princess, Natalia. ❤️ # 18 #BirthdayGirl. ‘
Vanessa also recently shared a sweet photo of Natalia, while commenting on how proud she is of her daughter after the ‘hardest year of our lives’.
‘Daddy’s little princess’: Taking to Instagram, the 38-year-old also posted a sweet photo of Kobe holding a young Natalia in her arms, which she wrote:’ Daddy’s little princess, Natalia. ❤️ # 18 #BirthdayGirl. ‘
She wrote: ‘Dear Natalia, happy birthday! Mom and Dad are very proud of the young woman you are. You have shown so much strength and grace throughout the most difficult year of our lives.
– Thank you for intervening to help me with your little sisters. You are an amazing big sister and a beautiful 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 Mom and Dad are to be our daughter. We love you always and forever, forever and ever.
‘Happy 18th birthday to our eldest, Natalia, our prince! Love always, mom, dad, Gigi, BB and Koko❤️. ‘
Proud: Vanessa also recently shared a photo of Natalia when commenting on how proud she is of her daughter after the ‘hardest year of our lives’
Tragic: it happens after Vanessa courageously shared her struggle with the pain before the anniversary of losing Kobe and her other daughter Gianna, who tragically died in a helicopter accident last year on January 26 in California (photos together in 2016)
This happens after Vanessa courageously shared her struggle with the pain before the anniversary of losing Kobe and her other daughter Gianna, who tragically died in a helicopter crash last year on January 26 in California.
‘Let me be real – grief is a confusing cluster of emotions,’ Vanessa wrote in an Instagram story on Friday. ‘One day you are laughing right now and the next day you don’t feel like being alive.’
She continued: ‘I want to say this to people who struggle with pain and painful loss. Find your reason for living. I know it’s hard.
‘I look at my daughters and try to get over this feeling for them. Death is guaranteed, but not living the rest of the day. Find your reason. ‘
Emotional: ‘Let me be real – grief is a confusing set of emotions,’ Vanessa wrote in an Instagram story on Friday
The post came after Vanessa spent her first Christmas since the death of her husband and daughter
At the time she posted a touching message on Instagram, writing: ‘Always together, never apart, forever in our hearts’ next to a touching photo of his family.
Vanessa also shared a black and white family portrait that included daughters Natalia, Bianka, four years old and Capri, 19 months old, posing on a sofa.
Before her tragic death, Kobe called Vanessa her ‘Queen’ and her daughters ‘princesses’ in a touching post on Instagram to mark 20 years since they met in November 2019.
Upset: the post came after Vanessa spent her first Christmas since the death of her husband and daughter (photo 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 the old school style (pre 4 princesses). I love you my mamacita forever. ‘
Kobe loved his family and in a previous post after retiring in 2016, he wrote: ‘I am very excited to see what God has in store for us as a family now that one chapter is closing and others are opening.’
Kobe met Vanessa in 1999 when she was 17 and worked as a model on a music video. The couple became engaged six months later and married in 2001.
They welcomed their daughters Natalia in 2003, Gianna in 2006, Bianka in 2016 and Capri in 2019.
So sad: before her tragic death, Kobe called Vanessa her “queen” and her daughters “princesses” in a touching Instagram post to mark 20 years since they met in November 2019
Kobe and her daughter Gianna, herself a basketball player, were on their way to the Mamba Academy for basketball training when their helicopter crashed around 10 am. The other seven people on board also died tragically.
The pilot – locally called Ara Zobayan – was trying to turn the aircraft around when it crashed into the hills of Las Virgenes gorge, which is home to celebrities, including the Kardashians.
Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Kerry and daughter Alyssa were also among the dead.