On Anna’s last day we spent the entire day celebrating her and doing some of the things she loved. We visited some of her favorite places, did some of her favorite things, and had special treats. We also just spent time together trying to soak up every little bit of Anna.
One of the places we visited was Kate Session’s Park in Pacific Beach, CA. We often brought the girls to this park. It’s a beautiful park with walking paths, trails, playground equipment, and a large grassy area. On Anna’s last day we found a secluded area at the back of the parking lot in the upper area and let the girls off leash to explore. There was a big mound of mulch that they enjoyed walking up and down. And they enjoyed snooping around the bushes and vegetation. We also found a big tree stump that had been decorated with graffiti. This area, and especially the spot near the tree stump, forever became Anna’s spot. The girls spent quite a bit of time exploring and we took many, many pictures and videos. After we said goodbye to Anna we brought Karlie back several times including on Anna’s birthdays and the anniversary of her last day. It made us feel close to Anna.
Revisiting Anna’s Spot
After we said goodbye to Karlie and adopted Sunny one of the first places we brought Sunny was Anna’s spot. It was bittersweet to be there when both Anna and Karlie were gone, but it was important to me to share Anna’s spot with Sunny. The first time we visited Sunny was about 4 months old and so little.
Today Sunny and I revisited Anna’s spot and I was sickened by what I saw. The entire area had a lot of downed trees and vegetation making it difficult to get to the tree stump. When we reached the tree stump I was sad to see that someone had set it on fire and burned at least half of it. The graffiti was almost entirely burned up. I don’t know when this happened since it’s been a year and a half since we’ve been in San Diego. Sadly this is likely the work of either kids or transients and it makes me mad. Not only because this was a special spot to me, but because people have so little respect for things. Despite that I will continue to visit this special spot and hope no further damage is done.
