With Saturday marking the 19th anniversary of her wedding -- and first since Kobe Bryant's tragic death -- Vanessa Bryant took to Instagram to pay tribute to her late husband.
Sharing a picture of Kobe holding her when they were younger, Vanessa Bryant wrote, "My king, my heart, my best friend. Happy 19th wedding anniversary baby. I miss you so much. I wish you were here to hold me in your arms. I love you."
Bryant also shared a video of Kobe answering a question during an interview with MTV in 2001 -- the year they got married -- in which the Los Angeles Lakers superstar answered a question about what made Vanessa "the one."
“You know, it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly makes a person the one for you, but you just know,” he said. ”Love is a funny thing. I can’t explain it and I can’t understand it. All I know is, she caught my heart and I just knew that she was the one.”
The 5-time NBA champion went on to add that he believed he and Vanessa -- who went on to have four daughters together -- would make "cool ass parents."
In January, Bryant and the couple's 13-year-old daughter Gianna were two of nine people to die in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Kobe and Gianna's untimely deaths sent a shockwave through the sports and entertainment worlds and resulted in an outpouring of support in the months that have followed.