#Roommates, Vanessa Bryant said one final goodbye to her husband Kobe Bryant, as she delivered his very emotional and heartbreaking eulogy at his public memorial service. Visibly choked up several times, Vanessa was able to get through it—and also shed light on the love story that she and Kobe shared.
Right after she delivered her daughter Gigi’s eulogy, Vanessa Bryant had to do the same thing for her late husband Kobe. It was an understandably difficult task, but she exhibited incredible poise, grace and heart throughout.
You can read the FULL transcript of Vanessa Bryant’s eulogy for Kobe BELOW:
“Now for my soulmate. Kobe was known as a fierce competitor on the basketball court. The greatest of all time, a writer, an Oscar winner and the Black Mamba. But to me he was KobKob, my Boo-Boo, my Bae-Boo, my papi chulo. I was his VeBe, his Principessa, his Reina, Queen Mama – Mamba.
I couldn’t see him as a celebrity nor just an incredible basketball player. He was my sweet husband and the beautiful father of my children. He was mine. He was my everything.
Kobe and I have been together since I was 17-and-a-half years old. I was his first girlfriend, his first love, his wife, his best friend, his confidant and his protector. He was the most amazing husband. Kobe loved me more than I could ever express or put into words. He was the early bird and I was the night owl, I was fire and he was ice, and vice versa at times. We balanced each other out. He would do anything for me. I have no idea how I deserved a man that loved and wanted me more than Kobe. He was charismatic, a gentleman, he was loving and adoring and romantic.
He was truly the romantic one in our relationship. I looked forward to Valentine’s Day and our anniversaries every year. He planned special anniversary trips and a special traditional gift for every year of our marriage. He even handmade my most treasured gifts. He just thought outside the box and was so thoughtful even while working hard to be the best athlete. He gave to me the actual notebook and the blue dress Rachel Mcadams wore in “The Notebook” movie. When I asked him why he chose the blue dress, he said because it was the scene when alley comes back to Noah. We had hoped to grow old together like the movie. We really had an amazing love story. We loved each other with our whole beings, two perfectly imperfect people raising a beautiful family and our sweet and amazing girls.
A couple weeks before they passed Kobe sent me a sweet text and mentioned how he wanted to spend time together, just the two of us, without our kids, because I am his best friend first. We never got the chance to do it. We were busy taking care of our girls and just doing our regular everyday responsibilities. But I’m thankful I have that recent text. It means so much to me. Kobe wanted us to renew our vows. He wanted Natalia to take over his company and he wanted to travel the world together. We talked about how we would be the fun grandparents to our daughters’ children. He would have been the coolest grandpa.
Kobe was the MVP of girl dads, or MVD. He never left the toilet seat up. He always told the girls how beautiful and smart they are. He taught them how to be brave and how to keep pushing forward when things get tough. When Kobe retired from the NBA, he took over dropping off and picking up our girls from school since I was at home pregnant with Bianka and just recently home nursing Capri.
When Kobe was still laying, I used to show up an hour early to be the first in line to pick up Natalia and Gianna from school, and I told him he couldn’t drop the ball once he took over. He was late one time, and we most definitely let him know that I was never late. So he showed up one hour and 20 minutes early after that.”
Vanessa continued, adding:
“He always knew there was room for improvement and wanted to do better. He happily did carpool and enjoyed spending time in the car with our girls. He was a doting father, a father that was hands on and present. He helped me bathe Bianka and Capri almost every night. He would sing them silly songs in the shower and continue making them laugh and smile as he lathered them in lotion and got them ready for bed. He had magic arms and could put Capri to sleep in only a few minutes. he said he had it down to a science, eight times up and down our hallway.
He loved taking Bianka to Fashion Island and watching her play in the koi pond area and loved taking her to the park. Their most recent visit to the koi pond was the evening before he and Gigi passed. He shared a love of movies and breakdown of films with Natalia. He enjoyed renting out theaters and taking Natalia to watch the newest “Star Wars” movie or “Harry Potter” films. They would have movie marathons and he enjoyed every second of it. He loved the typical tearjerkers, too, and he loved watching “Stepmom,” Steel Magnolias,” and “Little Women.” He had a tender heart.
Kobe somehow knew where I was at all times, specifically when I was late to his games. He would worry about me if I wasn’t in my seat at the start of each game and would ask security where I was, at the first time out of the first quarter. My smart ass would tell him he was not going to drop 81 points within the first 10 minutes of the game. I think anybody with kids understands that sometimes you can’t make it out the door on-time, and eventually he was used to my tardiness and balled out. The fact that he could play on an intense professional level and still be concerned by making sure we made it to the game safely is just another example of how family came first to him.
He loved being Gianna’s basketball coach. He told me he wished he would have convinced Natalia to play basketball so they could have spent more time together, and he also wanted her to pursue her own passion. He watched Natalia play in a volleyball tournament on her birthday, January 19, and he noticed how she’s a very intelligent player. He was convinced she would have made a great point guard with her vision of the court. And he told me he wanted Bianka and Capri to take up basketball so he could spend just as much time with him as he did with Gigi. Kobe always told Bianka and Capri that they were going to grow up, play basketball and ‘mix they ass up.’ Now they won’t have their daddy and sister here to teach them, and that is truly a loss I do not understand.
I am so thankful Kobe heard Coco say, “Dada.” He is not here to drop Bianka and Capri off at pre-K or kindergarten, and he will not be here to tell me to get a grip when we have to leave the kindergarten classroom, and he is not going to be able to walk our girls down the aisle or spin me around on the dance floor, singing PYT to me. But I want my daughters to know and remember the amazing person, husband and father he was. The kind of man that wanted to teach future generations to be better and keep them from making his own mistakes. He always liked working and doing projects to improve kids’ lives. He taught us all valuable lessons about life and sports through his NBA career, his books, his show, “Detail,” and his “Punies” podcast series. We are so thankful he left those lessons and stories behind for us.
He was thoughtful and always wrote the best love letters and cards, and Gigi had his wonderful ability to express her feelings into paper and make you feel her love through his words. She was thoughtful like them. They were so easy to love. Everybody naturally gravitated towards them. They were funny, happy, silly, and they loved life. They were so full of joy and adventure. God knew they couldn’t be on this Earth without each other. He had to bring them home to have them together. Babe, you take care of our Gigi. I got Nati, BiBi and Coco, and we’re still the best team.
We love and miss you, Boo-Boo and Gigi. May you both rest in peace and have fun in heaven until we meet again one day. We love you both and miss you forever and always, Mommy.”
We want to continue to send Vanessa Bryant our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.
Roommates, what are your thoughts on this?
