SEATTLE -- It has been exactly 10 years since the crash of Alaska Flight 261.Today, family and friends held a memorial at a park dedicated to the victims on Seattle's Queen Anne hill.
Rachel's Playground has become the gathering place for mourning friends and family as the years pass. It is named after 6-year-old Rachel Pearson, who often played at the park and died along with her family in the crash.
I was at my friend's place, and the TV was on, Ralph Pearson said as he recalled the moment he heard about the Jan. 31, 2000, crash. Of course what immediately came to my mind was Sarah. Sarah was an Alaska Airlines flight attendant, and the mother of Rachel and 22-month old Grace Pearson.
Pearson had to wait half an hour before he got the call he didn't want, he said.
They said, 'Mr Pearson... I'm sorry, but we lost them all... and I didn't of course anticipate something like that. And it was so difficult, he said while holding back tears.
To lose a whole family... it's unreal.
The small crowd of family, friends, and airline employees gathered in the park around 4:00 p.m. They lit 88 candles in 88 glasses to commemorate the 88 lives lost. At 4:22 p.m., the time of the crash, they lit a metal bowl filled with prayers and messages as a bagpiper played on.
Relatives and neighbors said it's hard to believe a decade has passed, that Rachel Pearson would have been a teenager today had she been alive.
The grief is lessened some, but you never forget them, said Leila Henricksen, who lived across from the Pearsons. And it's always lingering question in your mind and even though I know God knows what he's doing. It's still really hard to understand sometimes.
It seems like it's gone by very quickly, but you always think about it periodically, said Michele Shellhorse, former flight attendant. And I think about it now every time we fly.
Shelhorse was one of many who showed up this year specifically because it was the 10th anniversary. She said she wanted to show her own daughter the importance of remembering those who are gone.
For Queen Anne residents Mari Ingram and Stephanie Bower, thethe park is sacred ground.
You want people to know how it came to be and why it's here, said Mari.
It came to be through six neighborhood kids: Cory, Blake and Miles and Spencer Clemetson along with Rachel and Gracie Pearson - all best friends, ranging in age from eight years to just six months.
They've been dead longer than they were alive. It's hard to get my head around that sometimes, said Mari.
Two families, 10 people in all, were returning from a Mexican vacation when their plane went down in the waters off Southern California. In a matter of moments they were all simply gone.
And it was hard to imagine an entire family just disappearing - just disappearing. You could still smell the coffee on the kitchen table, said Stephanie.
Stephanie and Mari were close friends of the two families. Their kids all played together, went to school together, but they never got to grow up together. Cori would be graduating high school this year; Rachel would be learning how to drive.
Last night my older son went to a dance. This morning he took the first part of his driver's license exam. I often think it could be Rachel doing that, it could be Grace doing that, said Mari.
In the 10 years gone the pain has dulled, but it's far from gone. Daily reminders of that dreadful day are everywhere.
I hear a plane overhead now - and that's another thing. You can never hear the sound of a plane without having a chill run up your spine, said Mari.
You never truly cease to exist until you are forgotten, said Stephanie.
Over the past decade Stephanie and Mari have made it their mission to keep the memories of those 10 beloved friends alive. They've raised money to renovate the park where the kids all played, decorated with handmade tiles from those left behind.
They also helped establish a memorial garden at the kids' elementary school and renamed their Queen Anne playground in honor of 6-year-old Rachel Pearson.
You don't forget people that you love, said Mari.