7 Hours and Counting

Sunday afternoon and I am running on nervous energy. The last few weeks have been incredibly chaotic as we put the full court press on to have the site ready for tomorrow's launch date which, through no coincidence, also happens to be World Alzheimer's Day.

How incredibly lucky we have been to have attracted such an incredibly talented group of volunteers. Weekends, late nights and early mornings have been the rule and not a single complaint! I worked at eBay for seven years and the guiding principle at eBay was that "People are basically good". Based on the incredible outpouring of support we have experienced so far, I’d elevate the principle to “People are basically excellent”.

As anyone knows who has had a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s, the disease is awful. Not only does it rob you of your mind and your integrity but it puts a significant strain on the caregivers who usually end up being close family members. Alzheimer’s literally wipes out families with the burdens it places on the caregivers and their families.

With the imminent tsunami of baby boomers, Alzheimer’s is the type of disease that could fundamentally destroy a nation’s health care system. Officially, there are 6 million people in North America living with the disease although I would venture to guess there are millions more people suffering from the disease that have yet to be diagnosed. Worse yet, these numbers will double in the next generation.

Many times over the past few weeks I’ve thought about my many friends and family members who have been touched by the disease. It is very much in memory and honor of these people that A Million Tweets to Remember was born.

It’s the exciting use of technology coupled with the deep ties we all have to family members who have lived with Alzheimer’s that has led to an electric excitement around the Twitter movement we are about to launch. No doubt in my mind we will have millions of pairs of eyes filled with hope and pride looking down on us tomorrow as we launch A Million Tweets to Remember.

Thanks again to everyone for their support.

Jordan