‘Missing the love of my life’: Vanessa Bryant opens letter from Kobe on her birthday

LOS ANGELES - Vanessa Bryant celebrated her 38th birthday Tuesday and shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late husband and daughter with her 14.1 million Instagram followers.

Vanessa said she found one last letter that Los Angeles Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant, left her. 

The caption posted to Instagram read: “Yesterday I found an envelope labeled To: The Love of my Life. From, Tu Papi ❤️I waited to open one more letter on my birthday. It gave me something to look forward to today.❤️The irony is that Kobe had a photo of me drawn with an Angel holding me up by an artist on the cover. Missing the Love of my Life and my sweet little Mamacita- my fellow Taurus. Grateful to wake up to my 3 sweet girls today. Wish we were all together.”

Celebrations will never be the same for the Bryant family, who lost Kobe and Gianna in a tragic helicopter crash on January 26.

RELATED: 

• News related to the life and death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant

• Remembering Gianna Bryant: Rising basketball star would’ve celebrated 14th birthday Friday

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MAY 02: NBA player Kobe Bryant (R) and Vanessa Bryant attend EIF Women’s Cancer Research Fund’s 16th Annual “An Unforgettable Evening” presented by Saks Fifth Avenue at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on May 2, 2013 in Bev

Expand

Vanessa’s birthday comes four days after what would have been her late daughter’s 14th birthday.

Vanessa continues to show her strength and keeps fans updated by sharing family posts on her Instagram page. 

Along with his wife, Vanessa, Kobe is survived by daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and Capri, 10 months.