Sitting here this morning, it feels like my life is a movie. I have had an exciting life with ups and downs, however the past few years and the East coast life have introduced all new levels of excitement. I have been trying to update my blog all week long, however have not had the emotional energy to put it out in writing, but given the events of last night and the continuing search for Suspect #2 of the Boston Marathon Bombings, I have the day excused from work, I have been ordered by Governor Deval Patrick to "shelter in place." It's not often as a health care worker that work gets cancelled **I literally had to go out and work in a blizzard in February** however let me give you my story line of what has led up to this excused day from work...
A fresh new face to Boston and its immense offering of culture is what I am; I want to experience the lame Duck Tours, walk the Freedom Trail, go to Salem and learn of witches... I want to live it all!! So naturally when I realized last Thursday that Monday was a holiday here in Massachusetts (a holiday that gave me a day off) I was thrilled; prior to the holiday news I was trying to figure out how to schedule patient visits well enough so that I could go and park my car and cheer some Marathon runners on. Boston Marathon has always been an amazing event in my mind and I was going to be hell bent on not getting to witness it with my own eyes.
For those who don't live in Mass, Maine, or Wisconsin... Patriots day is a holiday here that marks the beginning of spring for most people in Massachusetts, it commemorates the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19th, 1775. These were the first battles of the American Revolutionary War. This is where the famous Paul Revere and William Dawes ride comes to play "The Red Coats are coming, the Red Coats are coming" begins or the "1 if by land and 2 if by sea" all the things I have read about in history books, right in my back yard!!
Jake and I at mile 24 taking it all in :)
Go runners go!!
117th Boston Marathon
So naturally I went to the battle reenactments in Lexington and planned a big day of patriotism on Patriots day. First I had to go to a dentist appt though.... Stinking teeth ;( My dentist is great, Dr Osario is located right in the middle of Boston Proper, which put me only 6 or 7 blocks from the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I had a beautiful plan: Dentist appt, go to downtown gym, get lunch, walk over and camp out at finish line in Copley Square (a beautiful city grassy scenic jewel nestled into Boston) to cheer for the runners that had finally finished a long 26.2 miles. While being driven to my appt, (Jake was dropping me off), Jake asked my plan for the day. I told him my plan and he approved of it all, until I said I was planning to go to Copley to watch the finish. He told me that it would be crowded there with all the news crew/runners/families and that my cheering and clapping would better be served down on "Heartbreak hill" (long tedious terrible gruesome hill) or even in Brookline around mile 24 where I could be right next to the runners and see more of the action. If any of you know me, I am slightly stubborn, and can be overly stubborn if I think it I am going to miss out on a opportunity. So I let Jake speak his piece about crowds and told him I would message him if I was going to change my mind, but at that point the only logical thing to do was to stick to my original plan. My appt went long, until 1130 and I had not finished my time card for work which had to be submitted by noon for pay, so I called Jake and asked him to come grab me since taking the T would take too long. So much to my chagrin for not being able to see the athletes cross the famous yellow finish line in Copley Square, I headed out to Brookline to finish my work and cheer/clap/encourage runners at mile 24. After about 2 hours of cheering, we sent out my taxes and stopped into a middle eastern restaurant to eat. They sat us right at the window so we had a perfect view of the racers, the spectators, and the beautiful sunshine all over Boylston St. We finished our meal and watched for a bit longer, then my USA today phone app went off. **My bro David Taylor introduced me to it about 2 months ago and I love this app!!** It must have been about 255 PM. The headline said "Breaking news: 2 explosions at finish line of Boston Marathon" I showed Jake, but there was nothing more to read since it was just a banner at the top of the app and no story to follow. We assumed maybe a water line burst or a manhole had issues, but figured we would know more later on the 5 o'clock news. The race was still in full swing where we were, so I figured it couldn't be too bad. We then got up, went out and watched a few more runners. I was so happy, right before we left Boylston St. to head to Jakes' house, I was able to see Team Hoyt!!!! Rick and Dick Hoyt are a phenomenon to me, and idols here in Boston and around the world. The father Dick, now 73, started running when Rick was a boy. Rick told his dad "when he pushed him in his chair and ran, he felt like he was running" that was enough for Dick. He started small and worked his way up in racing, training, always shooting for bigger and better races. Rick now 51, is in a wheelchair and only communicates with a computer, he has Cerebral Palsy and doesn't speak. As a boy the Hoyt family was told to institutionalize Rick, however they decided against it. This year marked the 31st year of running the Boston Marathon, and I got to see them as they journeyed on toward the finish line. I had the opportunity to see Dick speak at Utah State and was absolutely enamored by him and his story, so seeing them run made it all real for me. **They have done countless races together including triathlons** The time was now about 310 and we started walking. About 15 min later we got to Jakes place and I had 4 messages and a missed call on my phone. We turned on the news and realized that the explosions were more than a water pipe burst or a manhole going up, they were actually intentional bombs that went off.... it was shocking. We sat watching the same footage play over and over and over for a few hours. Updates to family and friends were happening all evening and until I finally fell asleep at midnight. I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that I was planning to be there at Copley Square and that without Jake convincing me otherwise, I didn't want to imagine what could have happened to me. I am grateful to be here alive and well and overly thankful that I was talked out of going to the finish line where I would have been more deeply impacted. The most recent counts of injuries are: 3 dead- 8 yr old boy from Dorchester, 23 yr old girl here from Asia for school at BU, and a local 29 yr old lady all spectators of the race; there are 176 people who were also injured by the 2 bombs that were set. One was near the finish line and the other was about 100 yds up the sidewalk, they went off just 10 seconds apart. Investigations showed that they were pressure cookers inside of duffle bags. The cookers were packed with metal and other bits to likely cause more damage to people.
So fast forward to yesterday. As I was driving in my car, I was able to hear listen in on talk radio to hear the Non denominational Interfaith ceremony in South Boston. The speakers included local clergy, the Governor, Mayor, and President Obama. There was also beautiful music by cellist Yo yo Ma and the Boston city Childrens choir. The ceremony was inspirational. I had tears in my eyes while listening. President Obama spoke about how this week everyone is a little bit Boston; how next year he hopes there will be even more athletes and that "Boston WILL run again." So many people were moved to tears by this service, Boston is known for its tough people and we may be knocked off our feet, but only temporarily, we will get up and finish the race!!!
At 5 PM the FBI released photos of 2 men believed to be in their 20s walking to the bomb locations on race day. The pictures were everywhere. They were known as suspect #1 and suspect #2. At midnight I dropped Jake off at home and had another USA today banner pop up saying that a cop was shot near MIT. There was once again no other story to follow, but since I live in Cambridge only a few miles from the campus, I headed straight home and to bed. This morning I woke up at 540 to go to a spin class at the gym, passed my roommate Chelsea who was also heading to the gym, and headed out by 550. The radio was reporting that there had been police chases throughout the night and that one of the suspects was believed to be dead. The radio then said anyone in Allston, Brighton, Cambridge, Watertown, Sommerville, Waltham is to stay home and not leave. Businesses were encouraged to stay closed as well. By now I was 5 min down the road and continue to the gym, taking the chance that it might be open... and it was!! So we started our gym class but by this point I was on edge. About 20 min into the class they came in and told us all to leave the gym, they were closing it down. I then left with Jake and we came here up the street to Jakes house to "shelter in place." I got a phone call at 650 from my boss telling me to call my patients and to not leave out today for work.
So here I sit....... Not sure what to think or do. The stress level here is high and there is constant stream of updates from the news, the only thing to do is to sit and pray. Pray for the dead, pray for the living, pray for any person who may unfortunately fall into the hands of this terrible person. The message that is resounding in me and many people I talk to is that one equation is true LOVE > FEAR. As I look at all the photos people have posted and sent to this city this past week I am overwhelmed and amazed of all the support and love that has come even from countries that know way more hardships than we do. I am thankful to all the love I have felt from family and friends this week, good to know I am in prayers and thoughts all over the world.
Much Love,
Kj
