This is a follow up to a Diary I wrote. It was a plea for help getting an ad re-ran in a local Carbondale Il newspaper that had misspelled my Murdered Niece's name. (The previous link is to a TV new interview and not paper of the misprint in question)
After this diary I was blown away by the response. Specifically from a fellow diarist( Urtica dioica gracilis) who wrote a diaryre-asking for help.
**Updated 01-07-09 The Article from the PaperAfter being emailed by great people here this is the article the paper ran. I can not complain!
I couldn't believe the quick response that was achieved.
with just barely 22 responses, some of them mine, i was already seeing the power of this community. I was more angry than anything when i came to KOS to blog about the misspelling of my Niece, Falon Taylor's name as Falcon. An Error the newspaper made two years ago in her obituary, and now, even with a reward poster with her name properly spelled, they were doing it again.
I got support but what i also got were other perspectives.
I was blessed to have the responses I did. One responses pointed out, this was actually a blessing, because now the ad would get a lil more longevity than the one day i had purchased.
I was also touched to read some of the fellow Kossacks own stories and experiences regarding tragedies in their lives. One fellow blogger telling of a span of 35 years of not knowing who killed their loved one.
In the end I didn't just get responses, I got lexical embraces. It is amazing how soured one can be on people, then come to a website like KOS and get their faith restored in the matter of a sentence or two.
In the end, the Newspaper re-ran the ad today, The two year "anniversary" of Falon's Murder. Not only that it got prime placement too. The initial ad was ran in the court reports area, and today it was on page two. I could never thank those who called and or wrote in enough. Never.
Along with the request to re-run the ad some bloggers also suggested to the paper they should also do a story as a follow up to help possibly generate more leads.
Well they did that too. Today the newspaper called Falon's Mom, my sister and conducted an interview which will run tomorrow.
In the end it just shows what a small group of determined people can accomplish.
I am so grateful to this community for the help, and ability to give me new perspective/calm me down.
I am not a writer and don't even play one on t.v. but i wanted to come here and put my thanks in writing because those involved really deserve it.
Specifically the following kossacks,
, Urtica dioica gracilis,Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse,cosette,jzso, debbieleft,ladypockt,Deep Harm, Pager,UneasyOne ,Sharon Jumper, Naniboujou , tabbycat in tenn, ebbinflo,murrayewv ,karmsy,GreenMtnState, MKSinSA,cris0000,flumptytail ,
But also as a whole The DAILYKOS Family.
Thank You
Now Just a lil bit about Falon.
Falon was born Dec 18, 1985
She had to come home with a breathing monitor because she had this ahbit of stopping breathing.
I was a 15 yr old punk kid. However I was the lightest sleeper in the house So we opted to have her crib in my room, so when the alarm went off,(signaling abnoral breathing) i would get up and check her.
In the first few weeks of her life The alarm would sound plenty of times, causeing me to rise and check on her.
Never once was it serious, but it still caused me to develop a bond with her early on.
As the years grew Falon and I would become closer more like brother and lil sister than uncle and niece.
She was everybody's favorite though. Especially her Pawpaws.
When Falon was just barely a year old, my dad, her pawpaw, had a heart attack and fell into a coma for 16 weeks.
We are from a small town and when the attack first happened dads blood pressure dropped deathly low. The only way to sustain him was to talk about his new and first grand baby. Falon. In the 45 minute Helicopter ride From our small town to St Louis, the nurse continued to talk of Falon keeping dads BP up high enough to keep him alive.
When he awoke he had lost all muscle control in his eyes. The way he trained his eyes to move again was by us putting a poster size photo of Falon sitting in "his" chair. Dad wouldn't obey many of the doctors orders, but the one thing he would do, is try to move his head inorder to see his grandbabies photo.
We all know if it weren't for Falon, he wouldve never survived the Helicopter ride to St.Louis.
As the years passed on Dad made a pretty good recovery but They were inseparable. It became the family joke, if you wanted anything from Dad, go through Falon.
Even as other grandkids came along, none would have the attachment that Falon had to dad.
Well when the teenage years hit and Falon found herself in the same trouble all teens get into, she could always count on Paw Paw to have her back.
I too tried to be there for her as my teen years were less than peaceful for my parents.
She had a happy go lucky spirit though, and when i told her i worried for her , or anyone did for that matter, her reply was almost always the same. "IT'll be all right."
Falon blossomed into a beautiful Young woman, and Made my dad a Great grandpa.
Falon lived to the age of 21 years and 2 weeks.
The night I got the call it was only fitting that my dad give me the news. I was 15 minutes into a 12 hour shift when the phone rang.
I expected to have a normal "shoot the shit" session with my dad.
However the news i received was devastating. Falon was dead. Shot in the head and the heart.
Falon never met a stranger and indeed at her funeral it was a potpourri of personalities. There were rich people poor people, gang bangers and politicians, school administrators, and policemen, old young, gay, straight,. Falon simply did not judge and could find the good in all people.
We still seek Justice for her today but if there was any comic relief at all it came 6 months after her murder. Me and 5 or 6 of the other nieces and nephews were sitting in the living room of my dad's house when he looked up and said "I guess you know Falon was my favorite."
Of course he was being very serious, but he was telling us as if it were some long held secret. We were able to laugh not at but with him as he realized that indeed it was well known she was/is still, his favorite. Not that he loves us any less but again it is an undefinable connection him and Falon had.
In a strange twist of circumstance, when we buried Falon we buried her next to dads brother, who ironically lived to the age of 21 yrs and two weeks.
One last tidbit.
We started a facebook group called The F.A.L.O.N. Project as away to honor Falon's memory. Foster Awareness Love Our Neighborhoods.
The idea is to spread the idea. People know who killed Falon but are so afraid of the people that live in their neighborhood they will not come forward. Our hope is that through the concept of Imagine Peace SPread Love, we can make a difference.
The following PSAs Say it best.
"Imagine Peace" is an unscripted PSA series featuring Bay Area activists and spoken word artist. Each PSA is an interpretation of the featured artist's vision for peace in their communities and lives.
For more information about the series please email Jasmene.Miranda@gmail.com