I fell in love with Boston during my first visit as a teenager, captivated by the visible history along the famed Freedom Trail, including Bunker Hill, the Old North Church and Faneuil Hall. When I gained entrance into Boston College I was thrilled. BC’s campus is on a hill in the Boston suburb of Chestnut Hill, but Boston proper is just a few miles away.
My most profound college memories include riding Boston’s subway, known as “the T”, from BC to Government Center. I’d sometimes get off and just walk around, stopping at Granary Burying Ground to gaze at headstones of Sam Adams, Paul Revere and John Hancock, suddenly feeling a part of some hallowed history the greatness of which was hard to fathom. Boston has a humbling way.
That’s why the bombing on Monday during the Boston Marathon, Patriot’s Day of all days – when the entire state comes together to remember the first battles of the American Revolutionary War — came as crush. You have to really understand what Boston means, what history means, and even what the marathon means, to fully register the horror.
“Patriot’s Day is about American unity, and the marathon symbolizes amazing human endurance,” my oldest daughter, also a Boston College graduate and current emergency nurse and student at Emory University in Atlanta, mentioned to me. “Boston is such an intimate place, and during the marathon you can feel this unity – it’s almost spiritual. Although this was a horrible event, I think people in Boston will use this same endurance and unity to overcome this tragedy.”
Having trained in some of its best hospitals, my daughter feels that Boston is well equipped to handle a large-scale medical event. Big cities drill for disasters, and she imagines Boston medical officials manning the marathon tent went from helping exhausted runners to running triage.
Of course, praising one of the best “small big cities” in the world and its incomparable hospitals feels good, but thinking about the victims brings great sorrow. We are reminded again of past horrific events, and how some individuals find justification for evil deeds that defy reason.
My friend, Milton resident Stacy Bourff, was worried about her son, Connor, a Milton High School graduate and current Boston College sophomore. He was unhurt when she reached him, but surrounded by stunned friends consoling one another.
“Boston is Connor’s adopted home, he loves it and it has become his sanctuary,” Stacy told me. “You feel violated when something like this happens, like something is taken away.” She believes, however, he has no intention of leaving.
“Maybe our entire country should be celebrating Patriot’s Day,” Stacy suggested. Perhaps to commemorate the victims of this and other terrorist acts, we should.
Veronica Buckman has been a resident of Milton for nine years. You can reach her at vrbuck01@aol.com
