Kaia Gerber has shared her first personal tribute to her older brother, Presley, nearly a month after his death. The 25-year-old model and actress wrote that being his sister had always been her favorite thing about herself.
In a letter published on Instagram on October 18, Kaia addressed him as “Prez” and described struggling to find words for her grief. She had turned to books for comfort but found no answers that could match the loss she was trying to express.
Presley, the older of Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber’s two children, died on September 20 at a recovery residence in Santa Monica, California. He was 27. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner had not announced an official cause or manner of death as of the latest family tributes.
“I was born loving you. I will die loving you,” Kaia wrote. She described their bond as so natural that even calling it easy would suggest an effort she had never needed to make.
Presley Went First When Kaia Was Afraid to Get Her Ears Pierced
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Kaia recalled becoming frightened before getting her ears pierced as a child. Presley went ahead of her, offering the reassurance she needed. In the letter, shared by PEOPLE, she connected that memory to holding an earring that had been removed from his body after his death.
“You always went first,” she wrote, expressing how desperately she wished that had not been true this time. Looking at the earring, she could think only that it belonged to him. She called Presley her “ultimate teacher” and wondered what she could possibly learn from his absence.
Her questions also concerned the everyday exchanges she could no longer have with him: how to tell him something without reaching for her phone, and how to be his sister when she could no longer reach for him. She acknowledged that she did not yet know how to do either.
The Tribute Includes a Childhood Video and Their Last Conversation About Music
The carousel opens with a home video of the siblings together as children. A later photograph shows them beside the ocean, while other slides contain her letter and a photographed page titled “The Gate.”
Kaia remembered her brother’s instinct to believe in other people. Even when someone treated him cruelly, she wrote, he responded with confusion and curiosity rather than anger. She admired his ability to remain gentle through experiences that might have made him less trusting.
Her letter also referenced physicist Richard Feynman’s message to his late wife, adapting its language to address her brother. Kaia wrote that she would choose their time together again, even knowing the grief that would follow.
The accompanying song was Jake Minch’s “First I Was,” according to The Guardian. In her postscript, Kaia identified the music as the last thing she and Presley had discussed.
Cindy Crawford Posts a Family Memorial With a Portrait of Presley
“We are beyond heartbroken to lose our beloved son and brother,” the family wrote. They expressed gratitude for the years they had spent with him and pride in the kindness and vulnerability he showed others. They also thanked friends, relatives and strangers who had offered support. The message was signed by his mother, father and sister.
In an earlier interview with PEOPLE, Crawford had described watching her children work together during the family’s spring 2025 Vuori campaign. She and Rande enjoyed observing their interactions while the parents were off camera.
“Nothing makes, I think, a parent prouder than when your kids like each other and love each other,” Crawford said. The campaign also paired her with Presley and Rande with Kaia for interviews, giving the parents a recorded account of their children’s feelings about them.
Kaia Had Praised Presley’s Openness Before His Death
In an August 11 interview with Vogue, Kaia discussed how her brother’s addiction struggles affected the family. She said she began identifying as “the easy one” and avoided asking for help because she worried about adding to her parents’ concerns.
She praised Presley’s willingness to speak publicly about difficult experiences, contrasting it with their parents’ usual privacy. The conversation also included a memory of him surfing before school, then arriving barefoot in his wetsuit with his board.
Rande Gerber Responds to His Daughter’s Letter
Rande reshared the childhood video on his Instagram Stories, adding his own message about the memory. “My life, my world, my heart. A moment that will live in me forever,” he wrote, according to Us Weekly, alongside a red heart emoji. In another Story, he wrote, “My beautiful girl to my beautiful boy,” above Kaia’s letter, according to Just Jared.