My Southern California-born husband is an avid Lakers fan. He grew up watching Kobe Bryant play his entire NBA career and cheered the Black Mamba on through five championships.
We were both in Los Angeles for the 2010 championship, and I tell you: There was nothing like being in that room with a group of young Angelenos just like my husband, cheering and hugging as Kobe led his team to victory.
In 2013, we got to see Kobe Bryant play at the Staples Center — a dream come true for my husband.
So, when he came in the front door yesterday after work and the first thing he said to me was, “Kobe died this morning,” I was shocked.
But then it got worse
“He was in a helicopter crash with his daughter,” my husband said. He sat down heavily. “It makes me feel all weird, like I could die any second. Like Abel and I could …”
“Stop,” I said. “I think about that all the time.”
Now I can’t stop thinking about Kobe, his young daughter, Gianna, and his wife and the mother of his four children, Vanessa Bryant.
My heart hurts for her. She is going through all of our worst nightmares. How many times have I watched my son and husband drive away together for a adventure and just prayed they’d come back OK?
Every time they leave together, the thought presses on my mind like a bruise: What if something unthinkable happened, and I lost them both at once?
This is now Vanessa Bryant’s reality
Even more bitter is that Kobe was a devoted father to his four girls. The reason he famously took a helicopter to games and practices? To skip notorious LA traffic and have more time to spend with his family.
Post-retirement, Kobe focused on coaching Gianna’s basketball team and promoting women’s basketball in every way possible — from regularly attending WNBA and college basketball games to hosting special training sessions for female athletes at his gym, Mamba Sports Academy.
When Kobe and Gianna got into that helicopter with the seven other victims, they were just a father-daughter duo on their way to play their favorite game ever.
Now, Kobe will never mentor Gianna — who was just 13 years old and already an incredible basketball player — through her career.
He won’t watch her star in high school games. They won’t embrace when she gets accepted into the college of her dreams. He won’t sit on the sidelines at her WNBA games, watching her carry his legacy into the next generation.
He won’t be there for his three other daughters, aged 7 months, 4, and 17. He won’t be there to give them advice. He won’t coach their sports. He won’t walk them down the aisle.
In many ways, Kobe was just getting started in life
He was just entering a “meaningful second act,” as President Obama so eloquently put it.
And Gianna was so young, so full of life and promise, as were her two young friends, who also lost their lives yesterday morning.
Today, the identities of the seven additional victims of the crash were revealed.
A father, a mother, and a daughter: John, Keri, and Alyssa Altobelli.
A mother of three young children: Christina Mauser.
A mother and daughter duo on their way to play ball: Payton and Sarah Chester.
Kobe’s trusted pilot: Ara Zobayan.
The sorrow the world feels is real. We think back on Kobe’s legacy, on Gianna’s promise. We grieve with the five shattered families reeling from their loss.
Today, let’s hold our sweet babies close
Let’s embrace our tantruming toddlers. Let’s be patient with our inquisitive middle schoolers. Let’s encourage our arrogant teenagers.
Let’s tell our children and partners how much we love and cherish them, because we never know when our time together could come to a heartbreaking end.
Rest in peace, Kobe. Rest in peace, Gianna, Alyssa, Payton, Sarah, Christina, Keri, John, and Ara.
Vanessa, the entire world will be thinking of you and those three sweet girls as you go through the unfathomable, something that no mother should have to endure.
Our hearts are with you, today and always.
