Stories from Pacific Beach

Caroline's email today brought back some memories of stories Kelly-Anne told me about while she lived in San Diego. Unfortunately I didn't keep her emails from that time and I regret that now.

Kelly-Anne told me that one day she was surfing on Pacific Beach. While on her board she saw
something in the water near her. At first she thought that it was a shark and proceed to get out of it's way real quickly, but looking at it closer she realized that it was a sea otter.

Another time she was surfing and suddenly there were a family of dolphins swimming along side of her. She said that it was a very humbling experience.

One evening I received a phone call from Kelly-Anne. She told me that she had been on her surf board trying to impress some guys that were surfing nearby and somehow she fell off her board head first into the water. She hit her head on the bottom of the ocean floor as she didn't realize that the water was quite shallow. She said her neck hurt and of course I was worried. She said that there was a doctor in her building and she would go over and see her. Thankfully it was only a sprain. It could of been alot worse.

While Kelly-Anne was in San Diego she got around on a a bicycle that someone had given her. She said that people would look at her as she rode it to work or where ever she was going. The bike was one of those old fashion bikes with the high bars...remember them? She told me that one day she was riding it to a customer's home as she was working in a catering business as a waitress. She would wear her shorts to work and carry her work clothes in a suit bag over her shoulder. One day as she was driving to work, the catering company's truck pulled up beside her and the driver asked her if she wanted a lift to the house. She said yes. The driver opened the back door of the truck and Kelly-Anne hoisted her beloved bike into the truck and climbed in. I remember seeing pictures of her on the bike.

Kelly-Anne was a free spirit in those days. She did what she needed to do and didn't worry
about appearances. I remember very soon after she returned to Montreal she came over to see me and was wearing a pair of shoes which she purchased in San Diego. I mentioned that they looked well worn. She then said that she bought them to wear at her catering job at a second -hand shop as it was all she could afford.

Thinking about all this now, I realized that Kelly-Anne had the right idea about how to lead her life. Maybe there is a lesson to be learnt from all this. An old pair of shoes and an old fashion bike served her needs......how humbling. Would any of us do the same I wonder?