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People gather to deal with loss of loved ones
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More from Other NewsBirds of paradise flowers rose above the sand and were arranged like a large horseshoe, with the candles burning in the center. An estimated 300 people, many from La Conchita, were on hand at the memorial near Seaward Avenue.
"We're a community here, a big family coming together," La Conchita resident Gil Deandey said.
The sense of family hit home for 20-year Ventura resident Jim Barry. Barry attended in the memory of the family of Jimmie Wallet, a man from Barry's Pierpont Boulevard neighborhood.
"Jim was from around the neighborhood," Barry said. "Everyone around here is just set back by this."
Wallet lost his wife and three of his daughters in the mudslide Monday at the beach community northwest of Ventura.
Dolores Garcia held one candle for the Wallet family and one candle for her out-of-state brother, a friend of Jimmie's.
"There's unbelievable pain everywhere. It's like everyone knew someone affected," Garcia said.
Up and down the beach smaller memorials of a candle or two were accompanied by tear-choked prayers.
A man and women identifying themselves only by their first names, Drew and Cara, sat in the sand away from the crowd. The couple lost their close friend Cristina Kennedy and their home.
"Things take a back seat when a friend dies," Drew said. "It's hard to even think about my house with Cristina gone."
The memorial was arranged by the residents of La Conchita who are staying at the Red Cross Shelter at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.
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