September 11th - 12 Years Later

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

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Chances are that you probably know what day it is (or you'll soon be reminded if your day is just starting) but today is the twelth anniversary of Attacks of September 11th. A dozen years have passed and we're more than a decade after this terrible event.  On this day every year, I think of the victims, their families, their friends and I like to honor the memories that we all have of them. 

I discovered Project 2996 when I was doing research of an article that I was writing about September 11th, and it has become a part of my life ever since.  Doing research on some of the victims brings them into your life and though you have you probably never met them the memories of their lives become part of you and as long as you live, these memories will live on.  It might not make any sense to someone who hasn't participated yet, but surely you have read something in your life or seen something (via television or possibly online) that has touched you.  If you haven't experienced this, you need to because it is at moments like this that our humanity shines through.

Last year I talked Dale (the man responsible for Project 2996) into trying something a little bit different.  We were going to pin pictures of the victims of September 11th into a Project 2996 group pinboard on Pinterest.  The goal is to get a pin done for every single victim, with a tribute written up for them as well.  We haven't accomplished this yet but I'm really proud of the people who have joined us in the project.  I've done a couple of speeches about September 11th at Toastmasters and I convinced a friend of mine to join in on this little project, she did several pins last year and a few days ago she asked me if we were doing anything for the 12th Anniversary.  She said that she didn't have much time but she still managed to do a good dozen or so pins, so my she has a heart felt thank you from me. I'm confident that we will get a pin out for every victim!

This morning I did a dozen plus pins myself and have now learned a little bit more about Barbara Olson, Peter J. Ganci, Jr,, Army Specialist Craig Amundson, Ryan Daniel Fitzgerald, Anthony Joseph Coladonato, Andrew Cross Abate, David E. Rivers, Irina Buslo, Bojan Kostica, Gregory James Malone, Kathryn Anne Shatzoff, Peter J. O'Neill Jr., Faustino Apostol Jr, John G. Farrell, Margaret S. Lewis, Virginia M. Jablonski, and Stephanie McKenna. One of the new vicitms that I learned about had a tribute that had been written as part of Project 2996 and in reading the tribute I noticed that a family member had asked the writer if she knew the victim, but also came the comment that she was so glad to see the tribute. I received a comment from the wife of a victim that I wrote about and it touched me deeply to see this. 

On this September day, I think about the people that I have written tributes in the past (Keith Roma, Christopher Santora,Joseph P. Henry, Karl Henri Joseph, and Dana Hannon. I especially think of David W Laychak, who was the first person that I've written about in Project 2996.

I hope that you take some time out of your day to remember the victims of September 11th, their families, their friends, and the world as this day left all of us a little sadder and world a little less richer because of all these wonderful people we lost and the impact of society that they would have had and the lives that they did and would have touched.  You can follow the board on Pinterest and even join us if you'd like to do some pinning.  You can also write tributes of your own.  If you don't have a website or blog to post them on, I'd be happy to post them for you.  Feel free to leave a comment. If you knew any of the victims, I'd love to hear your memories and stories about them. 

Darryl

Here are my posts for the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th Annivesaries.  You can read more about the pinning campaign here.  The Project 2996 website is here and the Facebook group is here.