The daughter of late author Amy Krouse Rosenthal is on a mission to finish one of her mom’s last projects.
As previously reported, Rosenthal died at the age of 51 on March 12 from ovarian cancer. Before her death, she gained national attention when she wrote a heartbreaking dating profile for her husband for The New York Times‘ “Modern Love” column. The essay, titled “You May Want to Marry My Husband,” went viral online.
Rosenthal also wrote several children’s books and was hopeful that she would continue Project 1,2,3, which challenged her to share a new 1, 2, 3, list daily at 1:23 p.m. Her goal was 123 days, but she stopped posting amid her battle with cancer. Her daughter, Paris Rosenthal, wants to continue it for her.
“As Amy’s health started to decline, I became a more integral part of the 1,2,3 Project. I helped her solidify which concept to post that day. I helped draw out the ideas when her handwriting failed her. I helped take the photos to post when her energy was limited,” Paris explained in an essay for the Today show, which was published on Friday, April 28. “I must continue this project, but with my own twist.”
Paris explained her goal in an Instagram post last month. “Everyday at 1:23pm, I will post a photo that represents something about Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I will acknowledge AKR in some way everyday for the rest of my life, and this is the first step of my journey in doing so,” she captioned a photo of a doll. “Today’s post, the first post, represents Amy wearing her favorite button dress, holding a yellow umbrella. It was given as a gift to Amy by Merrill Smith and was made by artist Danny Mansmith.”
Paris says that the project will be about sharing their “relationship with the world.”
“It’s about representing all that encompasses the Rosenthal family. And it’s about tangibly acknowledging my mom in some way everyday. It’s the only way I know how to get through this,” she wrote, via Today. “‘You are linked in my thoughts and heart in a way that is so constant, it’s almost like I’m breathing you with every breath,’ my mom once wrote to me. Well, she is linked in my thoughts and heart in the exact same way — and that’s why I need to do this.”
