Vanessa Bryant posted a picture on Instagram of the unopened envelope and said she waited until her birthday to open it. She wrote: “Yesterday I found an envelope labelled To: The Love of my Life. From, Tu Papi. “I waited to open one more letter on my birthday. It gave me something to look forward to today. “The irony is that Kobe had a photo of me drawn with an Angel holding me up by an artist on the cover. “Missing the Love of my Life and my sweet little Mamacita-my fellow Taurus.
“Grateful to wake up to my 3 sweet girls today. Wish we were all together.” Vanessa also marked the birthday of her eldest daughter Gianna who died alongside her father in the helicopter crash. “Happy 14th Birthday to my sweet baby girl, Gianna,” she added. “Mommy loves you more than I can ever show you. You are part of MY SOUL forever.”

Bryant, 41, Gianna, and seven others, including the pilot, died in the crash north of Los Angeles. The crash happened on 26 January, as the group was travelling to a youth basketball tournament, with the helicopter plunging down into the mountainside in thick fog. Family members of four passengers have joined the basketball star’s widow in suing Island Express Helicopters Inc – the owners of the aircraft.