Several years ago, on the anniversary of the tragic day where 2996 people lost their lives, blogger D. Challenger Roe began Project 2,996 -- it was an exercise in bringing bloggers from around the world together to remember the victims of Sept 11, 2001.
The idea was for bloggers to take the time to get to know one of the people who died and to celebrate and remember their lives rather than focus on the tragedy that befell them that fateful day. I loved the fact that the focus wasn't on the tragedy but on celebrating the lives, the people they had been before 9/11.
I took the time to find information and remember three different individuals over the years. Each year, I go back and re-read the posts about them, think about the lives they lived and the differences they made before their lives were cut short.
The posts about the people are listed below.
Raymond Meisenheimer - Remembering Raymond Meisenheimer (2006)
Deora Francis Bodley - Remembering The Lives of Two Heros (2007)
David Reed Gamboa Bradhorst & his fathers Daniel Brandhorst and Ronald Gamboa - Project 2996 - Sept 11, 2008 (2008)
A return/overview to the previous posts -Project 2,996 (2009) and yet another revisit last year.
These are just a few of so many lives that have been lost on that day and in the days beyond. So many lives have been altered, the course of history was forever changed. But beneath the world-wide gathering that is occurring on this tenth anniversary, all the memorials and media attention there still lies the simple fact that loved ones were lost, people who loved and were loved and who continue to live on in our memories and hearts.
2 comments:
thank you, mark. i have always appreciated the way in which you participate in this. i was reading that the placement of the names on the new memorial at ground zero was determined by requests family members made as to what other names people wanted their loved ones' names listed next to. it's intended to demonstrate the relationships and connections people had in life. such a simple concept but so much more meaningful than an alphabetical listing or an employee roster.
Thanks, Michelle.
There was actually a fascinating interview on "Spark" a CBC radio program (available to listen to via podcast at http://www.cbc.ca/spark/2011/09/spark-154-september-11-14-2011/) with one of the designers of the memorial who helped with the arrangement of names - apparently it also included their physical proximity within the buildings, the companies they worked with, the friendships made, the circumstances of the day as well - a complex algorythm of various relationships to determine proximity of names to one another.
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