Ellen DeGeneresis urging her fans to “celebrate life” following the death ofKobe Bryant, who passed away on the talk show host’s 62nd birthday.
“Today is Monday. Yesterday was Sunday and it happened to be my birthday and theGrammy Awards. I was nominated. I didn’t win. Not the point,” DeGeneres joked as she teared up. “Yesterday was a celebratory day and we got tragic news about Kobe Bryant and everything changed in a second.”
“That’s what I want to talk about: Life is short and it’s fragile. And we don’t know how many birthdays we have,” she continued. “We don’t have to have a birthday to celebrate. Just celebrate life.”
DeGeneres then tearfully encouraged viewers to reach out to love ones while they’re still alive.
“If you haven’t told someone you love them, do it now. Tell people you love them. Call your friends. Text your friends. Hug them. Kiss them,” she said.
Kobe Bryant.Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty
Kobe, 41, andhis daughter Gianna, 13, were two of nine victims who perished in a deadly helicopter crash on Sunday in Calabasas, California.
The former NBA player and the teenager were on their way to ayouth basketball gamein Thousand Oaks with seven others when thehelicoptercrashed amid foggy conditions and burst into flames.
Sarah Chester and her daughter, eighth-grader Payton, the head basketball coach at Orange Coast College John Altobelli, his wife Keri and daughter Alyssa, girls basketball coach Christina Mauser andpilot Ara Zobayanwere also on the aircraft during the incident. There were no survivors.
source: people.com
