my inspiration
I have had a lot of people ask me over the years why I have developed such a passion around Alzheimer's. After all, lots of people still (incorrectly) think of it as an old person's disease and until recently it was a disease which carried a stigma.
My inspiration for 1Mtweets is one that any person who has had a loved one or friend suffer from Alzheimer's can clearly relate to and understand. To see the disease in action is to despise it, resent it and try to fight it until it no longer exists. It disrupts and destroys lives, families and enormous human potential. It steals from its sufferers the very things that make humans human. Things like independence, the ability to remember one's history and loved ones and most tragically, it slowly erodes one's integrity. To lose one's memory is one thing, to lose one's integrity is entirely something else.
When I think of the disease, I have very vivid recollections of what it has done to my grandparents. I remember watching my grandfather consistently try to eat his soup with his fork and frustratingly try to put his pants on upside down. I remember listening to my grandfather ask my grandmother who she was and what she was doing in his house. I remember driving my other grandmother to my house for a family dinner and have her question me over and over and over again where we were going and why I had kidnapped her from her apartment.
And now I have memories of my only living grandparent struggle to remember my name and the names of her daughters and her grandchildren. It is these memories and lots more like them that have developed a burning passion in me to do something to get us closer to eradicating Alzheimer's from my life and the lives of those around the globe.
So in memory and honor of my grandparents, I created A Million Tweets to Remember. The triple meaning of the word "remember" in the title really encapsulates what I hope this movement will be all about:
The opportunity in perpetuity to digitally remember a loved one with Alzheimer's;
The opportunity for all of us to create a Tweet which allows us to remember all the good qualities of the person we are memorializing through the process of compressing it to 140 characters; and
The reality that every Tweeter will remember being part of this movement but, sadly, those they tweeted about would not have the capacity to do the same thing
All of this is possible because of the power of technology and Twitter. Essentially, we are (hopefully) going to raise millions of dollars through creating an archive of a million tweets and along the way, create one of the largest movements ever on the Internet, all for free! How incredible is that!
Thanks a ton for checking us out and reading a little bit about me and why I am doing this. If you have further questions or comments, feel free to visit our FAQ section, follow us on Twitter @1mTweets or find us on Facebook.
My mom has a saying which I think is perfect for each and every one of us who participates in the Million Tweets to Remember movement; "if it is to be it is up to me". Hopefully, we will have one million "me's" who all feel the same way :).
Our Goal
