CNN  — 

Vanessa Bryant waited one more day to open the surprise she never expected, never knew existed.

On Monday, the day before her 38th birthday, the wife of basketball legend Kobe Bryant found “one more letter” from her late husband.

It has been three months since the former Los Angeles Lakers superstar Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

“Yesterday I found an envelope labeled To: The Love of my Life. From, Tu Papi,” Vanessa posted on Instagram. “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. #MyBirthdayWish.”

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Kobe and Vanessa married in 2001 and would’ve celebrated their 19th wedding anniversary last month.

Vanessa marked the day with a photo of Kobe kissing her cheek.

“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.”

Along with Gianna, the couple have three other daughters; Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.

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Gianna would have turned 14 on May 1 and Vanessa paid tribute to her daughter last week by asking friends, family and fans to wear red, her favorite color.

This week, Kobe made a posthumous appearance in Netflix’s “The Last Dance” documentary which details Michael Jordan’s career, focusing on the 1997-98 championship winning team.

In his appearance in the fifth episode of the docu-series, Kobe reveals how Jordan mentored him.

“I had a question about shooting this turnaround shot, so I asked him about it,” he said. “He gave me a great detailed answer. But, on top of that, he said, ‘If you ever need anything, give me a call.’ He’s like my big brother.”