Today, we wake up (yet again) in a world that doesn't make sense.
A world where some cowardly insane person (or group) decided to hurt many
innocent individuals by detonating two bombs at the finish line of the Boston
Marathon. Bombs that killed eight-year-old Richard, twenty-nine year old
Krystle, and a graduate student from Boston University whose name is yet to be
released. Hundreds of people were treated in local hospitals with many still in
critical condition.
Since I went to
Boston College, and lived in the city for a year after graduation, I can assure
you that Patriot Day/Marathon Monday is one of the best celebrations in the
USA. Patriots Day is officially April 19th and it's a holiday only honored in
Boston. It's officially celebrated on the third Monday in April. The Boston
Marathon has been ceremoniously held on that day since 1969. And the Boston Red
Sox have a home game at Fenway on Patriots Day.
To say it's a fun
day to be in Beantown is an understatement. Businesses are closed. Schools are
closed. Almost every place that doesn't serve food and drink is closed in honor
of a day where visitors and locals come together to celebrate the human spirit.
The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon. Considering our nubile country is just a mere 237 years old, that's a pretty amazing statistic.
Boston College is
located at miles 20-21 of the 26.2 mile course. It's lovingly and brutally
referred to as "Heartbreak Hill" due to its slow steady incline and that
it’s located at one of the hardest segments of any marathon when runners tend
to hit that proverbial wall. This may be why I have such fond memories of going
out to “Comm Ave” to cheer on the tens of thousands of runners as they crippled
by. B.C. students felt some semblance of responsibility to instill in these
inspirational runners the need to keep going, to fight through the pain, to
make it to that finish line.
I remember the
runners who would put their name on their shirt. Genius! We would scream their
name as loud as we could. Go Ben! You can do it, Ben! Let's go, Kathy! You're
DOING it, Kathy! Keep it up! Congratulations, Sarah! Look at YOU GO! You're
awesome, Jack!
Then there were
those who ran with a group, or with a school, or put their favorite sports team
on their shirt. Let's go, Diamondbacks! Yea, Boston College Eagles! Oh, too bad
you are a Steelers fan but you're still doing a good job! It didn’t matter
where you were from, what your name was, or which team you rooted for. The
masses were united on Marathon Monday.
Marathon Monday is
such a fun, beautiful celebration that made me proud to be a Bostonian, even if
it was only for a few short years. I left my heart there in 1996 when I had to
move home for many reasons beyond the scope of this blog post. I always planned
to move back, but alas, life took me in a very different direction which is par
for the course.
I'll never be able
to root for the Red Sox or the Patriots (what is WITH those teams anyway?!?!?)
as they continue to plague my beloved Orioles and Ravens. But my heart bleeds
for Boston today. I'm heartbroken to know that Marathon Monday and Patriots Day
is forever tainted in history. We'll never be able to find beautiful pictures
of Marathon Monday online again because of the thousands of photos and videos
of this particular day. The 117th Annual Boston Marathon is forever stamped in
our minds as one of those lifetime events that everyone will remember where
they were when they heard the horrific news.
My memories will
serve as peace as I remember crisp Spring afternoons with blue skies, good
friends, food and frosty beverages, and tens of thousands inspirational people
from across the globe who were running for their lives...in a good way.
Boston, you are wicked awesome. God bless you. And God please help the many families directly affected
by this senseless act.
