Holy Shit, what just happened here today? It was a beautiful sunny day, mid-50's but warm. It was Patriot's Day, the Massachusetts state holiday commemorating the bravery exhibited by the colonials back in 1776, which coincides with a big Red Sox game in the morning and the running of the Boston Marathon.
Back before having kids, I would often watch some of the race, walking across the Common (park) from my downtown office, and another year, we went to the Red Sox game, and then ran over to Copley Square on Boylston St to watch some of the runners cross the finish line. This year, I forgot it was even Patriot's Day until this morning. I probably wouldn't have carted my three kids all the way to the city to watch the race, and I didn't realize about the parades and reenactments closer-by in Concord until it was too late. However, given the tragedy that took place, I thank my lucky stars that we weren't anywhere by at home.
At 2:50 p.m., as hundreds of runners were crossing and nearing the finish line on Boylston St in Copley, two explosions rocked the spectating crowds. Three lives were lost, over a hundred wounded, peoples limbs were lost, and thankfully, two additional bombs were found and dismantled before they could do any damage... It's just crazy to me that this could have happened, that a race that many were running to raise awareness for a cause and money for a charity, could be a target. What possible motive could there be for such a hateful and meaningless act? What more did they mean to do that didn't actually happen? Could it happen another day? I hope to God that they find out who did this and can figure out their motives, but holy shit, it has been a crazy day trying to grasp that it even took place. I gave up trying to keep the television off, to keep Quinn away from the news, but I knew of so many people that were either running the marathon, spectating, had gone to the baseball game, having been down there doing all those same things myself (minus the crazy running part)... I just had to know what was happening down there.
I know that I may often come across anti-Boston, but that is more out of missing my home state of Pennsylvania. But I really do like the city of Boston (not everything about it, still hate that crazy accent and rude people, but overall!). There is so much history everywhere you look, it's actually a fairly navigable city, and even though getting into the city can be a pain, I loved when my office was downtown, and I'd take the bus and train into the city. It is always bustling, and there's so much to do at any given moment. So many museums, the Boston Common and Public Garden is beautiful anytime of year, so many shops and restaurants, and action. I look forward to taking the kids into the city for different occasions - riding the swan boats and seeing the Make Way for Duckling statues in the spring, going to a Red Sox game, meeting Bobby Flay at the Copley mall in a couple weeks, hitting the USS Constitution (if it's ever docked when we get there!), ice skating at the frog pond, walking the Freedom Trail and seeing the Old North Church...
It's a shame that so much promise can be shifted by one act of hate, that so much beauty can be marred by one act of violence. Will it keep me from taking the kids into the city in a couple weeks to meet my culinary hero, Bobby Flay? I don't know, but I'll have to give it some serious thought before then, and at this very moment, I'm very scared to think of taking them down there (and straight into Copley, the current crime scene). What would I ever do if were in that same situation? I'd like to think that we'd be lucky and would make it through alive, but you can't ever know for sure, and I'd never be able to live with myself if something happened to one of my babies. A parent is not supposed to outlive their child, it's against all of nature. One of the victims today was an 8 year old boy, and his family won't get to take him home alive. I cannot even imagine that pain and suffering.
I can only hope that justice is served, that the guilty parties can truly pay for what they've done. I hope the city can be put back together, and that the spirit of the city can survive, that the camaraderie can carry it through to another day. There are so many songs and stories about Bostonian pride, and it's a day like today that makes me just have to give in and show some of that pride, too. While I really am a Pennsylvanian at heart, I have to make a little room for Boston in there. As the song says, "Boston, you're my home"!
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