Garden of the Missing

By Nazz Lane
A good friend, whom I'd met early in September, sent an IM when I logged in telling me that I needed to come see a new exhibit that recently opened.
"Hello Zanza, I hope you've been doing well. What sort of exhibit is it?" I asked.
"It's called "Garden of the Missing." It has posters of missing persons in the US. The owner is here now and I'd like to introduce you to her," she replied.
I asked for a TP, which she promptly sent and, with a whoooosh, I soon arrived.
"Hello Nazz. I'd like to introduce you to Ronnie Rhode. Ronnie, this is Nazz." Zanza Marx said as I rezzed.
I said hello to both ladies and then, "it's a pleasure to meet you Ronnie. Zanza, it's always nice to see you," I said smiling. "This is your garden, Ronnie?" I asked.
"I am the creator, owner, operator and floor washer," she said smiling and then continued: "I built this from scratch, starting around April."
As she spoke, I glanced around and came face to face with a large picture of a young man who had been reported missing by his mother. He was last seen in the driveway of his home.
How horrible I thought and commented on the poster to Ronnie.
"Jason's Mom actually placed that poster here herself. She joined SL because of this project. After her son vanished, she began ProjectJason.org, which assists families of the missing," she said then continued: "she is a bit of an adviser and unofficial partner here. She gives great advice about what can be done and many of the resources are from her efforts."
"I've had a long standing interest in missing persons' cases," she said before I could ask what had motivated her interest in developing the project. "Let me give you a tour," Ronnie said.
I thanked her for the offer; we found the TP board and arrived on the second floor.
She suggested we pause briefly here and then proceed to the garden area on the third floor telling me: "I wanted you to see the design. I tried to surround these people with beauty and also give visitors a pleasant experience."
I looked around as she spoke to see the posters of several children with information about them and their disappearance and I felt a wave of sadness wash over me as my heart ached for them and their families. "How many posters do you have here, Ronnie?" I asked.
"There are 140 posters here but there are an estimated 105,000 people missing in the US right now." she replied and then suggested we TP up to the see the garden and the crying angel.
We arrived quickly on the third floor and I followed her out to the garden.
It was beautifully done, with a small waterfall and a meditation area for visitors. "This is beautiful, Ronnie, very nicely done," I commented.
She thanked me and said: "I love it up here. I made pretty much everything you see, at least, the landscaping." I told her that it looks to be a place where people can come to think and reflect. "Yes," she said smiling, "that sure was the idea!"
We walked back toward the TP board and turned to the right. "This is the sad place. It is the "In Memoriam" section that is almost full of people who were missing, then found deceased. So I moved their posters over to this special area, which has a crying angel in it," she said then continued: "I had all these peoples' posters up here at one point as missing." She paused. "There is still one I haven't put up yet. Sometimes it takes me a while, emotionally."
As she spoke I saw a picture of an angelic looking child, a little girl, and my eyes began to tear.
I told her of my reaction and how I felt and she said: "Thanks for sharing in their grief. It's, unfortunately, a part of doing this. A really hard part, but part…"
"If I may ask, your long standing interest...is it based on personal reasons, Ronnie?"
She replied: "I'm glad to say I don't have anyone who is missing in my life. It's that, when you read about these cases, the families go through so much anguish when they don't have any answers.
I did this project for two reasons. The first is raising awareness of how very many people, adults and children, are missing in the US and beyond.
The second is the obvious hope that, someday, someone who visits here may know something that could relieve a family from wondering the rest of their lives what happened to their loved one."
I smiled and nodded my head in agreement and told her: "you've created something special here, Ronnie, you have my deepest admiration."
"Before you go Nazz, stop on the first floor. There are several websites devoted to the missing. In fact, at the entry is a poster where you can click and get those websites," she said.
I thanked her for the tour and did stop by before leaving, picked up a note card and the SLURL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Remora/200/165/21.