If your partner passes away, how should you continue with life? Should you live forever in the memories or try to embrace life again? This is a seemingly "simple" question that may touch on the depths of many people's hearts. And Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, has given an answer that the whole world can see.
Five years have allowed her to gradually come out of her grief and enter into a new love. This time, her life has once again been focused on, interpreted, and even criticized by some. Some people bless her, while others say she is "too cold-blooded," questioning whether she really still remembers the good of Kobe. But the question is, do we really have the right to judge the choices in a complex life?
Vanessa's story is as complicated as a multi-threaded script. On one side, she has the maternal duty of raising four daughters, on the other side, there are fans' emotional expectations for the identity of "Kobe's widow," and there are also various speculations from others about her new romance. As many people say, she can no longer be separated from the words "Kobe" in this life, but from being a partner to an ordinary woman, she also has to find reasons to live for herself. Perhaps, these reasons are not what everyone thinks they are.
In the eyes of almost everyone, Kobe was a basketball legend, and Vanessa was the woman who stood behind him to support him. But this role "behind the halo" did not allow her to escape tragedy. The helicopter crash in 2020 not only took away Vanessa's husband, Kobe, but also her second daughter, Gianna. That indescribable huge pain, Vanessa never shed tears in front of the camera, but every public statement made people feel the deep scars.
But even though her heart was deeply saddened, she still chose to stand up. She became the pillar of four children, not only had to be a good mother, but also had to carry everything like a father. In these years, whether it was the school activities of her daughters or their basketball games, Vanessa was almost always present, serving as the most determined cheerleader. Only those who have experienced it can understand how difficult the life of a single mother is, but she seems to have never complained, just supporting this family bit by bit in the trivial daily life. Honestly, this alone makes people's hearts ache. A strong mother, who can do this, who can't admire?
However, Vanessa did not let life be filled with only sadness, she also turned this pain into love. After the Kobe crash, she founded the "Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation" to provide opportunities for low-income families' children to participate in basketball, and at the same time, this project was named after the late Kobe and Gianna, becoming a symbolic existence.
Vanessa not only devoted her heart and resources to promote this charity work, her goal is also very clear, that is to let more ordinary children have the opportunity to feel the joy of loving basketball. You know, the management methods and fund flows behind the charity fund are all big projects, but she managed to hold on. Compared to those who questioned whether she "forgot Kobe," this might be the quietest yet deepest way she misses Kobe.
However, the storm did not subside because of this. Five years later, when Vanessa's love world appeared in front of the public with a "reopened" attitude, the controversy swept over. Yes, she fell in love and had a new boyfriend. He is said to be a man who takes meticulous care of her, not only good at creating romance, but also gently accompanied Vanessa through the darkest years.
But reality is not that simple. When the new romance was exposed by the media, the comment section instantly became a battlefield of "keyboard wars." Some people think that she finally found her own happiness, after all, Kobe has been dead for five years, and no one can live in the past forever. But there are also many people who find it harsh, even accusing her of "ingratitude," claiming that her "transferring affection" betrayed Kobe's deep affection.
Even worse, many onlookers began to focus on the issue of inheritance, speculating whether the boyfriend had any "ideas" about Vanessa's huge wealth. Everyone knows that Kobe's inheritance is a astronomical figure, with a public market estimate of as high as $600 million, enough to make anyone's heart move. There are voices outside questioning whether Vanessa's new boyfriend approached her because he was interested in her wealth? Is such a "magnifying glass" scrutiny too harsh for an ordinary woman?
Faced with these remarks, Vanessa did not remain silent, but chose to respond bit by bit to the outside world's troubles. She once frankly said in a media interview: "Kobe is the love of my life, and this will never change. But I must continue to move forward, to rediscover the meaning of life, because my daughters need a happy mother."
Vanessa's words are simple, but they hit the heart. No one can deny her love for Kobe, but at the same time, she and Kobe share a common point: love life, love the present. If Vanessa's happiness was completely written on Kobe before, then now, she may have finally found her own chapter.
When Vanessa's life was commented on by the outside world, she proved herself with actions in another field. Part of Kobe's inheritance was used by her to plan business investment and social welfare—from book publishing to public welfare film production, every penny she spent was clear, not only making the huge wealth play its greatest value, but also giving Kobe's inheritance more social significance.
In addition, Vanessa also had a public dispute with Kobe's family members over the issue of inheritance. The controversy at that time put her under great public pressure, but in the end, she properly handled the issue, protecting the interests of herself and her children with facts. Perhaps this is in line with her current "bold" choice, as a mother, she has already planned for the future.
After all, the reason why the outside world magnifies Vanessa's romance is still because society has too many invisible standards for women, especially for someone like Vanessa who has long existed in the public eye. Starting a new relationship is something that "naturally happens" for ordinary people, but when it comes to her, there are inevitably double standards.
But everyone's happiness does not need to be defined by others. Vanessa once lost the whole world, and now she has chosen to embrace love again. Perhaps this is not the "end" of anyone's story, but it is certainly the beginning of her personal journey.
Although the ups and downs of life are like a drama without a fixed script, what we can see from it is not blame, but the most real and soft side of human nature.