Vanessa Bryant, the wife of late NBA star Kobe Bryant, provided the world with a glimpse into her life shortly before the tragic helicopter crash on Sunday morning that claimed the lives of her husband, her daughter Gianna, and seven others. Saturday afternoon, Vanessa posted a photo on Instagram that showed the joys and headaches of being the parent of a 3-year-old.
The image showed Bianka Bryant sitting on a stool in front of the family refrigerator. The child was smiling at the camera while searching for something delicious to ingest. Judging by the caption, Bianka was not supposed to be rooting around in the refrigerator.
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“Oh my goodness, Bianka. #thiskid #busybee [smiling face emoji][heart emoji] #smart #refrigerator #juicebox #applejuice,” Vanessa wrote in the caption of the photo.
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Vanessa posted the photo on Instagram to show her daughter and the lengths that she would go to obtain a juice box. Little did she know that the coming day would soon turn tragic.
Similarly, Kobe was also spotted with Bianka the evening prior to his untimely death as part of a daddy/daughter day. They were seen at the Fashion Island mall in Newport Beach, a location that the family reportedly frequented often. Bryant was keeping an eye on his daughter while she watched other children playing.
This was the last time that Bianka would be out in public with her father considering that the tragic helicopter crash took place the next day. Bryant and Gianna were both killed after the aircraft collided with a hill in Calabasas, California.
Bryant loved being a “girl dad” during his life, a phrase that was mentioned by ESPN anchor Elle Duncan when she spoke about the former NBA star following his death. As she explained, Duncan had an interaction with Bryant in which he raved about being the father of girls.
“I asked him for advice on raising girls, seeing as though he quite famously had three at the time, and he said just be grateful that you’ve been given that gift because girls are amazing,” Duncan said during SportsCenter.
“His third daughter, Bianka, was about a year-and-a-half old at the time, so I asked if he wanted more children, and he said that his wife, Vanessa, really wanted to try again for a boy but was sort of jokingly concerned that it would be another girl. And I was like, ‘Four girls, are you joking? What would you think? How would you feel?’ And without hesitation, he said, ‘I would have five more girls if I could. I’m a ‘girl dad.’”
(Photo Credit: Brad Horrigan/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
