A seemingly unbearable grief paralyzed Matt Mauser after his wife, Christina, died almost a year ago, a victim of the helicopter crash in Calabasas that also took the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and six others. His witty, strong and talented partner, the mother of their three children, and the life they shared disappeared into an immediate tragedy.
After depression and many tears, Mauser turned to what he does best – music – to help him cope. The words flowed from his heart.
Lost, like a boat on the sea, I was thrown away and taken for a ride because you are not by my side.
Mauser said writing and performing songs like ‘Lost’ enabled him to express his sadness and a much-needed shackle amidst the suddenly stormy sea of his life.
“It just helps in the healing process,” Mauser, 50, said in a recent telephone interview. “There is no easy solution. Not one thing you do will make it easier to lose your wife and the mother of your children. It just does not happen. It’s going to take time. ”
The Huntington Beach resident and skilled entertainer has been sailing the storm since that fateful and foggy Sunday morning, January 26, 2020.
Christina, 38, a former conspicuous basketball and volleyball player at Edison High, has a balanced motherhood, with the leading assistant coach for Bryant in his highly competitive eighth-team girls basketball team, the Mambas.
She boarded a helicopter with Bryant, his daughter and six others for a basketball game in Thousand Oaks. The flight includes Gianna’s teammates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester, their parents John and Keri Altobelli and Sarah Chester, and pilot Ara Zobayan. John Altobelli was the baseball coach at Orange Coast College.
The group never made it to the gym. The Sikorsky S-76 helicopter crashed in the hills of Calabasas, killing everyone on board. The probable cause of the crash is expected to be announced by the National Transportation Safety Board on February 9.
The accident sent shock waves around the world and shook several communities and families in Southern California.
“Life is definitely different,” Mauser said. “I knew I had a wonderful, wonderful wife.”
While Christina was hand-picked by Bryant, Mauser also worked for the Lakers legend.
He was the lead singer of the popular Tijuana Dogs and Sinatra Big Band. He wrote music for Bryant’s children’s podcast called ‘The Punies’. The duo worked on two seasons of the show.
“It was a lot of work and it really adjusted my songwriting skills,” said Mauser, whose voice sounds similar to Frank Sinatra’s. ‘I give Kobe a lot of honor and appreciation. He put my feet on the fire and forced me to challenge myself as a musician and as a songwriter. ”
But Mauser’s main job these days is to get Mr. Mom to play for his own kids: Penny (12), Tom (10) and Ivy (4).
There is the daily challenge of distance education and to comfort children who miss not only their mother but also their peers at school. Mauser, a former aquatic athlete and coach at Edison, tackles the obstacles with an abundance of hugs and presence in their lives.
He especially tries to follow his wife’s example.
“I’m just trying to live the life Christina wants us to live,” he said. “The children are the priority.”
Mauser said his children are “going well” and encounter that they are sad.
“We fight for every bit of happiness and learn to enjoy life,” he said. “Life is to live, and life is beautiful in spite of all the things we have been through and what everyone has been through.
‘You’re supposed to find joy in life. There were people who were further down than us, with no options and nothing, and they still had a smile. ‘
The family also faced the anguish of the pandemic. Mauser said he and his children were each infected with the coronavirus, but they recovered within two weeks. “It was very difficult,” he said, “but we went through it.”
As for the healing of his heart, Mauser relies on his music. The pandemic halted opportunities for live performances, but he still writes songs for his wife.
“The most therapeutic thing for me was to write my music and get it back,” he said. “I could not do it for about a month and a half, two months. I just could not move … But then one morning I woke up and said, ‘I have to start writing.’ ‘
Mauser celebrates Tuesday the anniversary of the helicopter crash with a private fundraising concert in aid of the Christina Mauser Foundation. The concert will be broadcast at 17:00 PST on mattmauser.com, featuring a Sinatra style and a guest appearance by singer Frank Stallone.
Penny will perform the song “Green Bike”, which has special meaning for the Mauser family. Penny, who played basketball with the Mambas in a lower division, would be on the helicopter that morning, but because she was sick the previous week and would be performing ‘Green Bike’ at the Brea Improv family that evening kept her house.
“That’s why she was not on the helicopter either,” Mauser said of the song. “It’s hard to think, but it’s the truth.”
The Christina Mauser Foundation has partnered with the Rose Bowl Institute and aims to support single moms and women and girls in sports through scholarships and financial aid.
Mauser plans to continue his journey with sadness. He believes that sadness at some point connects all people who have loved someone.
“There’s no class on how to get through it, so you just have to rely on people who have been through it,” he said. “If I can help people get through grief, and if I can share any knowledge I have learned through this process, then God has placed me for it, and that’s what I feel I should do.
And so, write and sing Mauser. Hey, so much more I wanted to say, it must hurt, and how is it, if what was left was lost