Monday, April 15, 2013

Hope after the Boston Marathon

This morning, I sat down to watch the Red Sox play the Rays in the only morning game in baseball. I was excited at the walk-off win, and resolved to blog about it later.

That feels like a lifetime ago. I don't have much to say about the tragic events of today, except that it's heartening that so many people rushed to help. Marathon finishers continued running to Mass General to give blood. People opening their homes to stranded runners. People giving so much blood that the Red Cross has announced that they've got all they need and more (they encourage people to make an appointment to give in the next week so that there will be donors when supply has somewhat tapered off).

Patriot's Day will never be the same. But Boston is resilient. It's already difficult to get a spot in the Boston Marathon, and I'm confident that next year's race will be more popular than ever. This horrible tragedy will not break us. Boston is a city largely defined by its sports - indeed, there was significant twitter chatter encouraging the Bruins to call off their evening game (they did). Today, one of our most famous and historic athletic events was brutally defiled, but the participants and spectators banded together.

Tomorrow the citizens of Boston will wake up, put on a brave face, and try to pick up their lives where they were before the holiday, but it won't be the same. Our illusions of safety, however flimsy, have evaporated - but if there's one heartening thing to take away from today's events, it is that though one evil person or group tried to splinter the city and it's people into a million pieces, thousands of us have come together in acts of kindness and hope.

No comments:

Post a Comment