Vanessa Bryant recently spoke with People magazine about how she deals with the “unimaginable” loss of her husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant, who died in a tragic helicopter crash more than one year ago.

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Vanessa Bryant recently spoke with People magazine for an upcoming cover issue about what’s it is like to deal with the loss of her husband and daughter.

  • “This pain is unimaginable (but) you just have to get up and push forward,” she told People magazine. “Lying in bed crying isn’t going to change the fact that my family will never be the same again. But getting out of bed and pushing forward is going to make the day better for my girls and for me. So that’s what I do.”
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She told People magazine she has been looking to find “the light in darkness” and uses Kobe and Gianna Bryant for inspiration.

  • “I guess the best way to describe it is that Kobe and Gigi motivate me to keep going,” she told People magazine. “They inspire me to try harder and be better every day. Their love is unconditional and they motivate me in so many different ways.”
  • “My girls help me smile through the pain,” she said. “They give me strength.”
  • “I want to make Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianka and Capri proud.”

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Vanessa Bryant shared a recent letter she received — from Aubrey Callaghan, one of Gianna Bryant’s best friends — to honor and mourn the loss of her husband and her daughter, Gianna Bryant, on the anniversary of their death, as I wrote about for the Deseret News.

  • “Today I received this sweet letter from one of Gianna’s best friends, Aubrey. I love you Aubz (as my Gigi would call you),” Vanessa Bryant wrote on Instagram. “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. 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!”
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