The 2,996 Project
Have you noticed the new 2,996 Project banner on my navigation bar? If not, it’s worth a glance and a click.I found out about the 2,996 Project through The Unending Journey of the Wandering Author (a blog worth reading, by the way). Bloggers are volunteering to honor those who died on that sad September day. I think it’s a beautiful tribute to those 2,996 victims, so I signed up the day after I read the Wandering Author’s post.
Here’s the 2,996 Project mission statement:
2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11.
On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11. Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.
We will honor them by remembering their lives, and not by remembering their murderers.
On September 11, I’ll pay tribute to Thomas Patrick Knox. I plan to spend the next couple of weeks finding out what I can about him. If you knew Tommy or know someone who did, please contact me (my e-mail address is on the navigation bar, above the 2,996 block). I want to be sure I write a fitting tribute to him.
If you’re a blogger and you’re interested in volunteering, go to 2,996 Project and sign up. If you’re a blog reader, spend that day hitting as many blogs paying tribute as you can and leave a comment honoring that person.
If you're a blogger participating in the 2,996 Project, leave me a comment or e-mail me; I'd like to chat about how you're conducting your research.
Let’s honor their lives on September 11.
Labels: 2996 Project
posted by Cup @ 8:45 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
I signed up this morning. Will post with my person later... almost makes me cry that this even has to be done!
So glad you signed up, Marni! I think this is a wonderful project.
Ben, let's chat about how we can research our folks. My cousin and I have been discussing whether or not to try and contact family members or friends ...
I think that's nice you want to honour their lives, but I have to say, if it was me that had died in those events that day, I know that the fact that my life ended in that murder-well I wouldn't want that part to be ignored or glossed over. I think that is kind of important. That all of those vital lives were brutally ended that day, and who is responsible.
sorry, but I had to say it.
But isn't it nice to take a day and honor each victim individually? I think it's a wonderful tribute - one of love, not of hatred.
Beth, I think each of us have to make up our own minds, but I decided it was best to request any family or friends contact me if they're willing, and other than that to gather such information as I could.
Of course, I have had fairly good success in collecting information online. I don't have as much as I'd like, but I do have at least enough to offer a fairly rounded picture of Francis Esposito.
I do have a tip for you; the Legacy tributes contain a guestbook as well. It appears to me (and I did not check nearly every victim's guestbook) that this is the site many family members and friends posted their thoughts on. Usually this is not close family members, but even cousins and family friends have some insight into a person. And since the guestbooks are public, I don't believe it is disrespectful to use the information they have posted. Although, again, each blogger who participates will have to make their own decision as to what is best.
I wonder if you will find, as I did, that actually learning about a specific individual, thinking about what you have learned to form a picture of that person, and then writing about them, is an emotionally wrenching experience. I can only work for so long on my tribute before I have to pause. The feelings are just too intense.
(Sorry for the long comment; I am hoping some of my thoughts on this might help you as you work on your own tribute.)
Thanks, Wandering Author; I appreciate your long comment. I was considering contacting a few folks from Thomas Patrick Knox's guestbook, so I'll take your advice. I've just started gathering information, not yet writing, but what I've found breaks my heart. Tommy was a beautiful, vibrant man, and it tears me apart to know he died so young, so senselessly.
Beth, thanks for the tip. I signed up.
Ben, thanks for your thoughts on this. I will respectfully disagree, at least from my family's perspective. We lost my nephew in Iraq in February 2005. He was my sister's only son. My sister still receives emails and phone calls from strangers who do tributes, pieces of artwork, memorials etc., asking permission to use his name and likeness, and also asking for input. Both my sister and my nephew's wife find it comforting that total strangers are willing to participate in honoring his memory.
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