I had been working on a report about Saturday's race when the news about Boston started coming in. That report can wait.
Other people have already posted the Fred Rogers' quote about when disaster strikes, look for the helpers. It's the most comforting thing I've come across today. Especially as a parent, thinking about how to talk about this with my children. Perhaps not now. Buddy might be spared this for a little longer. But the next time some tragedy occurs.
I'm wearing my Soldier Field 10M shirt today, at work. I'm the only one wearing a race shirt here and it feels odd. Oh well. I'm wearing this one since it's the only one I have from a memorial event, and in honor of the National Guard who were among the first responders there. I'm wearing a Celtic cross, too, in honor of all those Boston Irish.
Runners' World has an article about how to help or show support. My next 26.2 miles are dedicated to the victims. I'm two and a half miles in so far.
It was a terrible morning for a run. It was a beautiful morning for a run. Every song that came up had some connection to Boston for me. I went to school in western Massachusetts and in Cambridge so I feel somewhat connected, a little? But I really don't know Boston proper. Only through this most glorious of runners' events, this beacon of hope and ambition, this most storied of marathons.
And it still is. It still is.
There is no place in the world that has not seen blood. "And still we rise."
May the souls of those killed, and the souls of all the departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
It was odd to hear people at work talk about this tragedy in such an abstract way, when I feel so personally connected. And I'm not even from the area! I, too, plan to run miles for Boston today.
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