away to boston

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we finally got up the courage to ask Auntie Ardleigh if she would look after the kids for a weekend while Mama and Papa went away to Boston for the weekend and she (foolishly) eagerly agreed!  What a great Auntie!!!

We planned it over a month in advance and decided on our old stomping ground of Boston.  Then, on the Monday before we were to leave, the unthinkable happened:  The Boston Marathon was devastated by two terrorist explosions which terribly injured hundreds and killed three. There are no words for the heartache and awful aftermath of this event and our hearts went out to the Bostonians.  It was difficult to even glimpse the images.

Kids:  Terrible, awful things will happen in this world and I hope to God you are never there when it happens but remember this:  Good people tend to win out and events like these give rise to heroes who never knew they had it in them.  In these, the worst of possible human actions, you will see humanity glow and shine in ways you never thought possible.  You will see strangers leap without thinking to help others they have never met.  You will see kindness that will make your heart bigger and selflessness that you will carry with you as in instruction manual on how we great humans can be when given the opportunity.  Horrible events in your life will shake all the unnecessaries from your world and leave only the truly important stuff standing as a monument to what life is really about.

Our Trip:

So we weren't sure what to do at first.  Do we go?  Do we stay?  Terrorists try to scare you away from your life, to make you live in fear.  We decided that we would not be scared, we would go.  But we would go to Cambridge and not downtown Boston, so we would be away from the main danger area.  The best laid plans...

We arrived Thursday afternoon and pottered around, did some shopping, watched a movie, at some dinner and got in bed.  Late that night, they set up a road block on our street.  We thought nothing of it.  We awoke early (still on kid schedule) at 6am to the news:  They had identified the suspects in the bombings and a massive manhunts was underway to catch them and it was centred in Cambridge and Watertown, MA - less than a mile from where we were.  Boston was locked down, everything was shut, everyone was told to stay inside.   Convoys of police cars screamed past the hotel at intervals and blackhawk helicopters buzzed overheard, every tv station carried the story live and when sirens wailed on the television, they echoed outside our hotel room in concert.  We spent the day in lockdown in the hotel, glued to iPhone news feeds and television sets.  We ventured outside for a quick walk to avoid the cabin fever and it was an eerie, surreal experience.  Downtown Cambridge was silent - devoid of anyone on the street.  Absolutely nobody was on the street save for a few security guards patrolling the entrance to their buildings.   It felt strange, surreal, and ultimately unsafe.  This guy could be anywhere.

By the day's end, he was caught and his brother was down.  Boston celebrated but it was a muted, exhausted cheer.   In the end, the good guys won.  And they usually do, kids.