Kaia Gerber has paid an emotional tribute to her late brother, Presley Gerber, one month after his death at the age of 27. Her post came shortly after their mother, supermodel Cindy Crawford, shared a statement on behalf of the family, remembering Presley as a “sweet, beautiful soul.”
Presley, the son of Cindy Crawford and businessman Rande Gerber, died at a rehabilitation facility on September 20.
Family shares a message
Cindy Crawford, her husband Rande Gerber and their daughter Kaia Gerber posted a tribute to Presley Gerber on Sunday. Presley died in September at the age of 27. The message was shared on Crawford’s Instagram page.
“We are beyond heartbroken to lose our beloved son and brother. We feel so blessed to have had Presley in our lives for 27 years,” the family wrote, as per Variety.
“He is a sweet, beautiful soul who loved and is loved, now and forever. We are so proud of how he showed up in the world, with kindness and vulnerability. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support from so many who know and love our family and even strangers who feel our pain. Til we meet again our sweet boy. We love you forever, Mom, Dad and Kaia 🪽”
Kaia’s note to her brother
{{/usCountry}}Kaia’s note to her brother
{{/usCountry}}Kaia, 25, shared her post on Sunday, October 18, one month after her brother’s death. It was addressed to him.
“Prez, i don’t have the words. and maybe the tiny mercy is that we don’t need them all along,” she began. “words fail and words subtract and words summarize and words always lack truth. And how naive of me to believe that language could transcend grief."
Kaia said she has been reading books about grief but still has “none of the answers” to help her cope with “the magnitude of losing you.”
“you know how much i loved being your sister. it has always been, and will forever be, my favorite thing about myself. i came into this world with a white-knuckle grip around you. i had more love for you than i knew what to do with. and now that it has nowhere obvious to go, i’m certain it’s going to swallow me whole," she wrote.
The post had a photo of Kaia and Presley as kids on a beach, and a video of the two dancing in a bedroom. She called him “my best buddy, my great protector” and “the one true love of my life.”
“to say loving you was the easiest thing in the world would imply that it required any effort at all,” she wrote. “i was born loving you. i will die loving you. there was never anything else.”
Kaia also wrote about how life is now. “i am learning how to love you when i cannot see you. how to tell you something without picking up my phone to call you. how to be your sister in a world that i cannot reach for you in. i don’t know how to do that yet.”
She said she would “choose it all over again. every second,” adding, “i would walk knowingly toward this grief if it meant that on the other side of it i got to be your sister."
She ended with: “my darling brother, i do adore you. i love my brother. my brother is dead. and this party sucks so bad without you, prez.”
As per Entertainment Weekly, this was a reference to a love letter written by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman to his wife, months after her death.
Also read: Presley Gerber cause of death: How did Cindy Crawford's son die at 27? All on mental health struggle
What is known about his death
Presley died at a rehab facility, according to Los Angeles County Medical Examiner records. This death was first reported his death on September 20 after reviewing those records.
His autopsy is done, but an official cause of death has been put off while the investigation continues. “The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time,” a representative told TMZ.
Presley was the eldest child of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, who married in 1998. He began modeling at 15, like his mother. He signed with IMG Models and was part of a Calvin Klein campaign, the Moschino runway and a Pepsi ad with his mother.