Feeling sentimental. Vanessa Bryant honored her late daughter, Gianna, with a special tribute on what would have been her 14th birthday.
“Happy 14th Birthday to my sweet baby girl, Gianna,” the former model, 37, captioned an Instagram photo of her daughter on Friday, May 1. “Mommy loves you more than I can ever show you. You are part of MY SOUL forever.”
Bryant went on to detail her pain since the loss of her daughter. “I miss you so much everyday,” she wrote. “I wish I could wake up and have you here with me. I miss your smile, your hugs and your giggles. I miss EVERYTHING about YOU, Gigi. I LOVE YOU so much!!!!!!!”
Kobe Bryant, Gianna and seven of their friends died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January. The former basketball player was survived by wife Vanessa and the couple’s three other daughters: Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 10 months.
“It’s still unfathomable,” a source told Us Weekly in April. “It’s the heaviest loss a mother and wife could possibly experience.”
The philanthropist delivered a eulogy at Kobe and Gianna’s public memorial in February. “She knew how much her morning and evening kisses meant to me,” she said of her daughter. “She was so thoughtful to remember to kiss me every day. She was Daddy’s girl, but I know she loved her mama, and she would always show me and tell me how much she loved me. She was one of my very best friends.”
In her speech, Vanessa recalled how the athlete often compared Gianna to her. “Gianna had a sweet grace about her,” she noted. “Her smile was like sunshine. Her smile took up her entire face, like mine. Kobe always said she was me. She had my fire, my personality and sarcasm, but she was tender and loving on the inside. She had the best laugh. It was infectious. It was pure and genuine. … Gianna made us all proud, and she still does.”
