In Loving Memory Of One Unique Lady

December shaped up to be a dark and dreary month as friends and members of In The Dark lost a friend, member and administrator.  Joni Gardner was lost to a house fire she did not escape from earlier in December.  The loss has been profound for her friends who have really rallied around one another to pay tribute to her fun loving spirit and nature. To say goodbye and remember such a wild and wonderful woman.

Joni will be best remembered by me as a mother and friend.  I met Joni online and was drawn to her unique character from the start.  We seemed to be in the same places and ended up with the same friends and connections online for a few years.  Inevitably she joined my website and became a valuable contributor who shed her insight into many matters which normally included love and peace.  She had an eye for beautiful pictures and graphics and I always enjoyed reading what she had posted on the sites we shared.

Joni was not a friend I knew as well as I should have.  Sometimes when you travel in internet circles there are also dramas and gossip.  Some people end up guarding themselves carefully while I do know Joni was not one of those.  She was always speaking her mind and did not know the meaning of laying low but many times over she did not strike me as disrespectful to any involved when she spoke upon her views or a situation we may have become involved in.  I admired her for being true to herself and for her style and intelligence.

She was a hippy and somewhat older than me but she really did inspire me to take a closer look at things.  I have never been a conformist and I think she must have had that sense of me which meant we just got along the majority of the time.  We teased one another about being rainbow riders and finding that rainbow connection.  We shared laughs but the time was way too short.  I was very shy where she was very open and out there.  We did not get to talk and chat the way we might have had we more time.  I will always regret not spending more time with her.  I could never ever forget a friend who expressed she only wanted my happiness. She once encouraged me to go for it as far as mending my shortcomings for my son.  In the end she was always on my side and quick to share a positive thought.

I thank you Joni Gardner for being who you were.  So beautiful and so loving.  What we didn't get to in this life I sure hope we will in the next.  Until we meet again....

Joni Rae Gardner

January 26, 1956 - December 13, 2012