By Juanique Tennant

Almost 14 months since the passing of her husband and daughter, Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Kobe Bryant, is telling the tale of “finding the light in darkness” and navigating “unimaginable” grief after the fatal helicopter crash that claimed the lives of her beloveds and seven others on January 26, 2020.

In a People cover story slated to be released this Friday (March 5) for the Women Changing the World issue she told them “I can’t say that I’m strong every day… that there aren’t days when I feel like I can’t survive to the next” but even in death “Kobe and Gigi motivate me to keep going”.

Vanessa and the former Los Angeles Lakers star married in 2001 and had four daughters together, Natalia, Gianna, Bianka and Capri. The remaining three of whom, she says, helped her to “smile through the pain”.

It is this familial support she says that reminded her that “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”.

Since Kobe’s passing, Vanessa has taken charge of creative projects left unfinished at Granity Studios, the late basketball star’s multi-media company, as well as relaunched Kobe’s charitable non-profit as Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, a nod to the father-daughter duo, to help empower young girls and provide equal opportunities to underserved athletes.