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In August of 2005, Petey, our Founder and his family, lost his seven-year-old granddaughter Marissa Sabrina Reyes to a sudden and raging flash flood near Scottsdale, Arizona. This freak and rare event changed not just his families lives forever, but Grandpa Petey's life in ways that even he could not imagine possible years later! At Marissa's "Celebration of Life" Grandpa Petey vowed to build a suitable memorial in her name to honor not just her life, but those of all children worldwide who are lost suddenly due to a sudden natural disaster. Grandpa Petey vowed to build a special place to help families better understand the sudden loss of their children, how their spirit lives on and to help spread Marissa's spirit of love, learning and kindness worldwide. The Marissa's Reef project is designed to be an aquatic-theme living memorial and tourist-based attraction. To grasp the concept, imagine a sixty foot (60') round acrylic aquarium tank 30 feet tall or tube of water, with an amazing tropical reef formation in the center. Now imagine the parents or family members who lost a child suddenly to a flash flood, an earthquake, an avalanche, hurricane, typhoon or any other natural disaster - releasing a reef fish they have selected and named to represent their lost child, their child's SpiritFish, into the Sea-of-Angels where they will live within Marissa's Reef, a beautiful and harmonious reality. Their lost child's name will also be etched into the Marissa's Reef - SpriritFish Memorial, a granite wall within the Marissa's Reef facility that will feature a unique interactive video scrapbook. Family members or close friends (family approved visitors), will be able to remember the lost children with journal entries, pictures and video clips, by placing them into a digital guest book that is available for general public viewing. Grandpa Petey is considering several locations for this project, with a goal to open Marissa's Reef by late 2012 on their common birthday of June 24th, within a tropical island travel destination, most likely at a busy cruise terminal that Petey feels would represent the spirit of the overall project objectives and maximize the visitor count. Stay tuned for more details as they develop on this project, or contact Petey directly through this web site if you would like to become a Sponsor or contribute to the project directly. |
