Vanessa Bryant is gracing the cover of PEOPLE Magazine’s Women Changing the World Issue this week.
Although Vanessa has shared her struggles and pain on her Instagram, after losing her husband and Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, this is the first time she’s chosen to open up about it to a media publication.
Sporting a Lakers jacket on the cover, Vanessa shares that even though it’s been about 14-months since their passing, she has days that are tougher to get through than others.
“I can’t say that I’m strong every day,” she tells PEOPLE. “I can’t say that there aren’t days when I feel like I can’t survive the next.”
Not only did Vanessa have to mourn these losses, but she also had to make sure their family — Natalia, 18, Bianka, 4, and 20-month-old Capri — were okay and do her best to rebuild their lives for them now that they had lost their father and sister.
PEOPLE shared that Vanessa had to take over creative projects that Kobe was working on at his multi-media company, Granity Studios, as well as relaunch his non-profit charity as Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, which focused on encouraging young girls and providing opportunities for underrepresented athletes.
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It’s difficult to imagine how someone could preserve through this type of pain and show so much resilience, but Vanessa has such an incredible family and keeps Kobe and Gigi in her heart, giving her the power she needs to keep going.
“I guess the best way to describe it is that Kobe and Gigi motivate me to keep going,” she says. “They inspire me to try harder and be better every day. Their love is unconditional and they motivate me in so many different ways.”
Vanessa Bryant’s cover story in PEOPLE’s Women Changing the World issue will available on newsstands beginning this Friday.
