Hundreds of people in Huntington Beach gathered Saturday to hold a candlelight vigil for 38-year-old Christina Mauser, the assistant basketball coach for Mamba Academy who was killed last Sunday in the helicopter crash that also killed Kobe Bryant.
It wasn't easy for anyone who knew Mauser to be present Saturday tonight.
"Why someone so amazing?" Sarah Yagerlener asked out loud. "She had so much more to do with her life."
Hundreds holding candles came and shared stories.
"I will miss her laugh and her singing in the car. I want her to know I will always have Penny’s back--No matter what," a mourner said at the vigil.
The 38-year-old left behind a husband and three young children. The community made it clear that the Mauser family was not alone in its loss.
"This is a tight knit community. There is a lot of love here, a lot of support," Duane Weiss, a mourner, said.
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"To honor them and to honor her and life and what a great mom she was and person," Terri Weiss, another mourner, explained why she attended.
The vigil ended with a walk down the pier, where friends tossed flowers into the ocean remembering a wife, a mother, a friend who had so much more life to live.
Yagerlener emotionally said, "Her family, the countless kids that she was involved with, with teaching and coaching--so, it’s a huge loss, huge loss."
