Vanessa Bryant Says Kobe Gave Her Rachel McAdams' "The Notebook" Dress In Moving Eulogy

This past Monday, a memorial event dedicated to the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant was held at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles. Inviting fans and loved ones to convene for a night of remembrance, it was anything short of emotional. The ceremony included Vanessa Bryant’s eulogy, that while heartbreaking, showed how loved the pair is.

While speaking of her husband, she mentioned one of her favourite gifts he’d ever given to her and it happened to be the actual blue dress worn by Rachel McAdams in The Notebook.

This wasn’t the first time Vanessa had revealed her love for the gift. Back in 2013, she posted a throwback photo on Instagram of the dress alongside the matching blue shoes, “One of my favorite Valentine's day gifts from my husband was the blue dress, shoes and THE notebook from the Notebook Movie he gave me years ago.”

However, this was the first time the 37-year-old has discussed why the present was so meaningful, “When I asked him why he chose the blue dress, he said it was because it’s the scene when Allie comes back to Noah.”

She also heartbreakingly discussed how they “had hoped to grow old together like in the movie” going on to say, “We really had an amazing love story. We loved each other with our whole beings. Two perfectly imperfect people making a beautiful family and raising our sweet and amazing girls.”

ET Canada reports that the two met back in the late ’90s when Vanessa was working as a dancer and Kobe was looking to release his first album.

Aside from daughter Gianna, the two share three other children, Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.

According to ESPN’s live coverage on YouTube, the service was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and featured speeches by Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan. Performers included Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, and Christina Aguilera.

You can watch her entire eulogy below.