Bostonians don’t have the reputation for being particularly
modest. We are tough, mostly blue collar people, who work hard and play harder.
We are a proud people – lest anyone ever go into a Boston bar and say something
as sinful as “Go Yankees.” We support our sports teams and our politicians with
unabashed loyalty, and we are proud of our heritage.
Being from Boston is like a fraternity; no
matter where you go, you undoubtedly find someone else from Boston, and are
instant buddies. You may have never met, but you share a past.
Saying that Monday’s events shook me is a gross
understatement. Seeing the terror at the Boston Marathon, happening in my
hometown, shook me to my core. I’ve been right where the bombs went off,
hundreds of times. I knew people who were right there when it happened.
Luckily, no one I knew was gravely injured, but in a town like Boston, the loss
of Martin Richard, Krystle Campbell and Lingzi Lu, who was in
Boston studying at my alma mater, hurts us all on a personal level.
When I was a student at Boston University, we referred to
Marathon Monday as “the happiest day of the year.” Every Patriot’s Day the town
of Boston shuts down to all except sports; the Red Sox play a day game, the
marathon takes place in the streets from Hopkinton, up Heartbreak Hill, and down
to Boylston St., and the Bruins play a game that night. It’s our Mardi Gras,
our New Years Eve. It’s a day
everyone in Boston looks forward to each year; it’s a day that we celebrate being from Boston.
What happened Monday does not change that. The Marathon will
forever have the scar of the lives lost and the bodies maimed, but we will not
let it take away our spirit. We are Boston and we are proud – forever.
With tears in our eyes, we will sing the National Anthem
louder than ever before; we will honor an 8-year-old by hanging his hockey
jersey over the statue of Bobby Orr; we will never forget those lost, and we
will not let those who did this get away with it.
Because if I know one thing for sure about Bostonians, it's that we are tough and we will overcome. Like everyone
from Boston, I believe in my town – we always have, and we always will. Boston
is a tough and resilient town, and so are its people. We are Boston, and we are
strong.
