Karina Gerschler’s Celebration of Life in San Diego, California
I was not lucky enough to know Karina personally, but I am incredibly grateful to have been there to capture her friends and family as they celebrated her life. The day started in Pacific Beach with breakfast pastries, bouquets of flowers, and a paddle out. Karina being a San Diego native naturally loved the water so many of her loved ones hopped on their boards and paddled out with some flowers to honor her. I’ve never been so bummed to not be a surfer! Since I don’t have a board or waterproof equipment (yet), I hung out on the beach with the others who watched the paddle out from shore.
In the afternoon, we all migrated to the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. People began to slowly pour in and it quickly became obvious how loved, appreciated, and inspiring Karina was. A bowl of rose quartz was on the entry table along with butterfly wands, mementos, scrapbooks, and a canvas everyone signed that read “Mabuhay,” a Filipino greeting literally meaning “long live.” The turnout was so great that there weren’t enough chairs to go around. Loved ones filled this large space, listened to family members reflect on their time with Karina, and watched a slideshow of Karina’s life. Her life of travel, yoga, and love. Her love of so many people, especially her fiancé Steve. He spoke of their time together and apart, their engagement at the Carlsbad Flower Fields, and their time in the hospital praying for Karina to pull through. I could barely see through my viewfinder because of the tears welling up in my eyes.
The cherry on top was a sound healing session carried out by Zen Soul Balance, a holistic wellness company in La Jolla. I had never experienced a full sound healing session before and I’m glad I finally got to. This practice is profound and I certainly felt a wave of emotions through this meditation. I noticed a sense of calm fall upon every person in that room and while the afterlife is a mystery to us, I wouldn’t be surprised if Karina was there to meditate with us as well.
I saw many smiles and many tears that day. This was not a funeral, but a celebration of the life Karina created before she left this plane. She was a native San Diegan who was spiritual, kind, funny, and creative. She and her life partner Steve ran Riffs Yoga Studio together and she was a yoga instructor as well. As Steve said, “Karina was never afraid of death, she said that many times. Her only fear was how her death would hurt those that she loved.” While her fight with stage 4 stomach cancer has ended in the way that everyone hoped it wouldn’t, her loving energy remains.
