Patriots Day 2013

I was originally going to recap the annual Patriots Day Red Sox game in this post, had the heading ready to go and everything. There’s no point after yesterday’s tragedy.

In this post, I will not go into politics or act like I know what exactly the people of Boston are feeling. I will not act like I know the motive. I will not talk about terrorism or war. I will not talk about the unthinkable tragedies that have plagued this country. I will not be posting any of the horrific photos or videos that have been splayed across our televisions, Facebook pages, newspapers, Twitter-feeds, etc. And, I will not act like I have all the answers. The truth is, I don’t.

I never lived in Boston; I’ve only visited there twice. It’s my favorite city though. Both times I went there, I felt something. I felt like this was the type of place where I had always wanted to live. It’s a major city, yet it felt smaller, probably because you could walk anywhere in the city.

My mom was the one who notified me about the explosions, through a text. I immediately texted my boyfriend, who is from north of Boston. I went on The Boston Globe website to find that it was down. I went on Twitter and scoured the people I was following, about 80% of which are athletes and writers from Boston.

I went on Facebook and started reading posts from my friends and family offering condolences to the victims and their family and friends. I almost posted my own as well, but I couldn’t. Something stopped me. A friend of mine had posted that he hoped his friends running the marathon were safe. I didn’t know what I could possibly say.

The first photo I saw was from when the second explosion happened. I saw the police trying to help up the runner who had been knocked to his feet in the first blast. I saw the hotel, The Lenox, in the background; it was the hotel I stayed at the last time I was in Boston. I knew exactly where the explosions had taken place.

I’m not going to get into my emotions about this tragedy, but I was upset and in shock. I followed The Boston Globe’s Twitter feed all afternoon, but I couldn’t say anything myself. I didn’t know what I could say. I didn’t know what I could do to make any sort of difference.

Sunday, my boyfriend and I were watching the Red Sox-Rays game after going for a run. He is training for a half-marathon taking place next month and plans on doing our local marathon in September. He had been talking about his aspirations of qualifying and competing in the Boston Marathon in the future.

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I had a conversation about the attacks. He expressed how it was affecting him because it was Boston, and it was his sport, running. I had a similar thought earlier in the day.

Most of the runners coming in at the time of the attacks were running for charity, not competing for any type of prize, according to news outlets. Their friends and families were at the finish line to cheer and support them. This was supposed to be a happy and proud time. It was ruined, but I think it’s incredible the number of runners who have already come out and said they plan on doing the marathon again next year.

I still don’t know what to say in the wake of this tragedy, but I offer my condolences to the victims. I pray for the victims, their friends and families, and the citizens of Boston, my favorite city. I will keep Boston in my heart.