Raela Villanueva wiped the tears from her face and grabbed the microphone in front of her.
She began singing a song she wrote for her brother, Junior, a UF student who committed suicide about 16 years ago.
On Thursday, about 50 attendees watched as the Survivors of Suicide Memory Garden was dedicated to family members and friends whose loved ones killed themselves.
Now, those affected by suicide in Alachua County have a place to find peace and reflect on the memories of loved ones they’ve lost in the Cofrin Nature Park, located at 4810 NW Eighth Ave.
Commissioner Randy Wells spoke at the dedication. He said the garden represents love and can help survivors understand the doubt and confusion surrounding a suicide.
“Someone affected by suicide knows it is not an end … but a beginning of lifelong questions,” he said. “I hope and believe something special will come from this space. It represents empowerment over futility.”
John Adams, one of the landscape architects for the project, said when he and his team were designing the layout for the garden, he wanted each part to represent how people deal with losing someone to suicide.
“There are four functions of the garden,” he said. “It’s a place for someone to go to honor their loved one, a place for healing and forgiveness, a place for supporting others and finding support, and a place to find calmness.”
Adams said the garden’s “symbolic design” includes a gathering space, a labyrinth and a bench by a creek, all of which symbolize the stages of grief survivors face.
A life-size basalt sculpture with six columns that stands in the garden, designed by Greg Johnson, was created to symbolize how each individual affected by a suicide can belong to a greater group, Johnson said.
“Each is individuated … but they relate to each other as people relate to their loss,” he said.
The idea for the garden was hatched almost a decade ago when the park opened, said Gladys Cofrin, former owner of the park property; however, the construction on the garden began about two years ago.
The Friends of the Crisis Center, in conjunction with the City of Gainesville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs Department, and the Alachua County Crisis Center partnered to create the garden.
Wendy Brant, the president of Friends of the Crisis Center, said the garden was “truly built by angels — both seen and unseen,” and will now be a special place for survivors.
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 11/15/2013 under the headline "Memorial garden in park dedicated to survivors of suicide"
