Heartsick
Elle
It has been over 24 hours since the bombings at the Boston Marathon and everything is different, yet still the same. Today I woke up, got the kids ready for school. My son missed the bus and I drove him. Then I went to work. Ordinary, everyday things. Despite the routines, things are different. I am heartsick and I can’t stop thinking of the people and the horrific images from Boston
Growing up in Massachusetts, Boston is home. The city we visited for field trips to the Boston Museum of Science, the New England Aquarium, the Swan Boats, walking the Freedom Trail and visiting the Old North Church, Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall. Going to as many Red Sox games and concerts at the old Boston Garden that we could. Patriots Day meant the Boston Marathon and a day off from school.
We always felt safe there, walking around the city. Just like all those people yesterday. They felt safe too. We used to feel safe sending our children to school. We used to feel safe going to the movies. Is there anywhere we can ever feel truly safe again?
The people of Boston are some of the best and strongest people I know and they will get through these dark days and come out on the other side. I take heart at the stories of ordinary people, on what was supposed to be an ordinary day, doing extraordinary acts of heroism. That is why evil will never win. Good, ordinary people won’t let it happen.
Stacy
I had the news coverage on, of course. My oldest son came in and commented about it. He wasn’t shocked like I was. He said that every day bad things happen. The news talks about killings, bombs, shooting, etc. Everyone is angry, whether it’s people here or from people far away. It saddened me that a 14 year old isn’t surprised about something horrible happening. Kids are growing up where terrible things happen daily. Yes he was affected by it and felt bad for everyone involved but he wasn’t surprised. How sad is that? When we were growing up bad things happened, but whether it wasn’t as heavily reported as it is now, or it just didn’t happen in our back yard. We were always shocked. Now our children have come to find this common.
