For a 2008 graduate of Ohio University, the eulogy he gave at his father’s funeral was more than just a speech; it was the beginning of a social movement.
Alex Sheen created “Because I Said I Would” after his father, Al Sheen, died of small cell lung cancer this past September.
“I could have raised money for cancer or for programs to help people quit smoking,” Sheen said. “Both are worthwhile and noble causes, but I didn’t want my father’s memory to be echoed by his death.”
Promise cards are blank with the words “because I said I would” typed at the bottom. According to Sheen’s website, www.becauseisaidiwould.com, to use the card, you write your promise on it and give it to the person you’re making a promise to.
“(When you fulfill the promise) you earn your card back and you keep it as a reminder that you’re a person of your word,” said Sheen in a video on his website.
Sheen distributed promise cards for the first time at his father’s funeral and offered to send 10 cards to anyone who requested them.
What started as a group of friends on Facebook has since snowballed, Sheen said. So far, he has sent cards to hundreds of people in 18 different countries.
“(‘Because I Said I Would’) spreads so much because promises can mean different things to different people,” he said. “It wasn’t going to be the Al Sheen project; it’s about how that memory of him can live through something that is common about all of us.”
Though the project is in its early stages of growth, Sheen hopes to make “Because I Said I Would” a sustainable operation. As of now, he pays for printing and shipping costs out of pocket.
In order to help offset the costs of printing and mailing hundreds of promise cards, however, Sheen accepts donations and sells T-shirts on
his website.
“I’m trying to find ways to make this more sustainable, but I don’t want people to think I’m trying to take their money,” Sheen said.
On New Year’s Eve, Sheen set up walls of promise cards at five different bars in the downtown Cleveland area.
“New Year’s resolutions are the first promises of 2013,” he said. “Every year, people are going to reflect on personal commitments. They can be little things.They can be huge life goals.”
The promise walls had hundreds of promises posted on them by the end of the night.
“Some people wrote drunk and funny (promises), but others started reflecting and were more serious,” Sheen said.
For his own New Years’ resolution, Sheen made 52 promise cards and plans to randomly select one per week to fulfill.
“I think (my father) would have had mixed feelings (about the project),” Sheen said. “He would yell at me profusely for using my own money to fund this; he worked really hard to be financially stable.”
However, Sheen added that his father would be proud of the way he lives.
“I keep my word better now than I ever have,” Sheen said. “If I don’t keep my word, the whole thing dies. I can’t have a reputation that is hollow.”
kh547011@ohiou.edu
