Vanessa Bryant says daughters motivate her to find 'light in darkness'

Chuck Schilken
·2 min read
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2017 file photo, from left, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, wife Vanessa and daughter Natalia Diamante Bryant are seen before a Connecticut-UCLA NCAA women's basketball game in Los Angeles. Kobe Bryant's widow on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, sued the owner of the helicopter that crashed in fog and killed the former Los Angeles Lakers star and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna last month. The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Vanessa Bryant in Los Angeles Superior Court said the pilot was careless and negligent by flying in cloudy conditions Jan. 26 and should have aborted the flight. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
From left: Kobe, Gianna, Vanessa and Natalia Bryant in 2017. (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)

Vanessa Bryant has had every reason to withdraw from the world during the 13 months since her husband, Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash.

But she has three very good reasons to fight that urge — daughters Natalia, 18, Bianka, 4, and Capri, 1.

"Helping my girls navigate through this heartache is important to me," Bryant told People magazine for its "Women Changing the World in 2021" issue. "Making sure that they know that they are loved, supported and important is what motivates me."

Bryant now runs her husband's multimedia company, Granity Studios, and has relaunched his charitable nonprofit organization as the Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation.

"This pain is unimaginable, [but] you just have to get up and push forward," she told the 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."

Bryant also has stayed active on social media, keeping it real with fans who grieve with her.

"I've had fans reach out and message me on Instagram to tell me that they look forward to coming to my page to see my girls and I smile," she told People. "That it gives them hope that they can get through whatever tough things they're going through. Or, to thoughtfully share their stories of hardships. We've all experienced pain and suffering in different ways and have learned to cope in different ways."

In a recent article about Vanessa Bryant's social media presence, The Times' Thuc Nhi Nguyen wrote "her carefully curated Instagram account is a window into her difficult grieving process. There is joy in the photos and videos. There is also pain."

But Bryant told People she always tries to wear a brave face for her daughters.

"When I see their faces when they realize that I've been crying, it makes me straighten up and push through for them," she said. "I counter it with making them smile about something. ... Always finding the light in darkness."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.