The 2,996 Project

I didn’t personally know anyone that passed away on September 11, but, like everyone else in the country, it affected me tremendously.

I was on the phone with my dad when the second plane hit. I will never forget his voice when he said “Holy shit, Marni! Another plane just flew into the building!” My cubicle looked toward the Atlanta skyline. I think I spent a couple of hours just watching the sky around my beautiful city waiting for something to happen. It was terrifying!

Later on that morning I was standing in one of my building’s lobbies watching everything unfold on television. As we watched the towers burn, one woman exclaimed “My son is in that building!” and she rushed off to, I assume, find out his fate. I don’t know who she was. I don’t know if he survived. I think about her all the time.

One of my best friends from college had a cousin that was killed. He was one of the brave firefighters that went into the building. He is my hero. His name is Lt. Michael Healey.

I don’t want to forget. I want to remember the victims from that day… they deserve to be remembered for who they were before 9/11.

I found out about the 2,996 Project through my cousin Beth. On September 11, Bloggers are volunteering to honor those who died on that sad September day. Tributes are being written by each Blogger honoring a person to whom they are “assigned”. I think it will be a beautiful tribute to those 2,996 victims.

On September 11, I’ll pay tribute to a beautiful young woman named Leah E. Oliver. I am going to spend the next couple of weeks finding out what I can about her. If you knew Leah or know someone who did, please contact me (my e-mail address is on my profile page). I want to be sure I write a fitting tribute to her.

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.

Let’s honor their lives this September 11.