Update: We have decided to not move forward with The 26Valentines Project. While this well-intentioned effort will be no more, we know we'll all continue to honor the children and adults in our own ways.
The day after the shootings in Newtown, Robbie Parker spoke at a press conference. His six-year-old, Emilie, was one of the children who died at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. He spoke of how many lives Emilie had touched, how bright, creative and loving she was, how infectious her laugh, how she never missed an opportunity to draw a picture or make a card for someone.
I didn't know how he managed to stay composed, but I knew he was standing there in part because he wanted the world to remember Emilie. I ached to do something to help. A couple of weeks later, I heard from my friend Heather at The Extraordinary Ordinary. She wanted to find a way to commemorate those twenty children and six adults, too. That morphed into this, 26Valentines.
Much love has poured in for these children and adults from around the world, their faces engraved
on our hearts. As parents and as bloggers, we wanted to perpetuate that love with a month of tributes throughout February. Twenty-six valentines that say we are still thinking of them and what was special about them, and we will always remember.
