The January 8th Memorial
Randy Gardner - Survivor
Symbols by artist Rebeca Méndez
Peace Sign
Pacifist and anti-gun advocate after surviving Kent State shooting in 1970
As a student in 1970 at Kent State University—protesting the Vietnam War—Randy was only 10 feet away from one of the four people shot dead by the National Guard on that fateful day. It started a lifetime of being anti-gun and a warrior for peace. His motto is the last line of the song “The End on Abbey Road” by the Beatles: “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” He really would have preferred that Neil Armstrong had planted the United Nations flag on the moon, rather than the Stars and Stripes. After all, Armstrong himself identified the accomplishment of stepping beyond our home planet for all of mankind.
Big Horn Sheep
Ram is his zodiac sign / Hiker / Balance and skill
Randy’s zodiac sign is Aries. Like a bighorn sheep he always felt most at home in the mountains, hiking many mountain ranges, reaching quite a few mountain tops, while backpacking and camping in their midst, taking in the clear air with relish. Mountains were his life-giving force, and the bighorn sheep has always been his totem animal.
Brain
Career as a mental health counselor
In Portland, Oregon, Randy worked for decades as a mental health counselor, specializing in being the first to treat people brought in going through an acute mental health crisis. So the mentally deranged shooter on January 8, 2011, seems sadly familiar. Randy sees large gaps in the country’s mental health system that lead to “a lot of lone wolves leading very unhappy lives.”
Two Meteorites over Mount Hood
An ode to his life-partner
An ode to his life-partner Barbara. ”I am incredibly fortunate to have such a good woman’s love and support through it all.” Randy met Barbara in 1982 when she was a single mom with a daughter. One night they went up Mount Hood, Oregon’s highest mountain, to witness a Perseid meteor shower in the clearest of skies. They watched in awe as two long-tailed meteors crossed simultaneously and in synchronicity across the sky. Randy: “Meteorites travel the universe and burn out like our lives do. Barb and I had a good life together. That moment in Mount Hood symbolizes it.”
Highway
Hitchhiker in the 70’s / Passionate about road trips
As a hippy in the early seventies Randy safely hitchhiked from coast to coast with two girls, then hitchhiked from San Diego to Vancouver. The world was his oyster. He loves travel, especially the road trip, and estimates he has driven from the east coast to the west coast and back again at least 25 times.
Pima County © 2024. All Rights Reserved.
For issues concerning this website, please contact the Pima County Web Team.