Before he attacked the Boston Marathon, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of the suspected terrorists, wrote on the Internet that he had no American friends and didn’t understand them. In the days after he attacked Boston and before he was killed, I hope he finally came to understand what Americans were like.
In the days after the attack Bostonians showed the world the true American spirit. They showed that we as a people can come together and support one another in times of great suffering. What Boston showed was that bravery and strength are in no short supply.
Despite the differences in our day to day lives the American people showed that our rivalries are only sibling rivalries. Disagreements here arise out of mutual goal to make sure that all citizens in this country are free.
Being from Boston, the attacks at the marathon were difficult to watch. The first hours after seeing the breaking news alert were terrifying for me. I live 1,300 miles from home. Cell networks in the region were overloaded making reaching friends and family impossible.
The only thing that could quell the fear after seeing the attacks was to hear that they were safe and I couldn’t even get that.
The thing that made those moments so terrifying was that, at the time the bombs went off, everyone in Boston had a reason to be standing on Boylston Street.
Patriots Day is a uniquely Massachusetts thing. It is a holiday that only we celebrate. It is a day where we honor our role in the founding of our nation – how we stood up and told King George enough was enough, we weren’t going to be manipulated.
That quality has endured generations later in the citizens of Boston. This past week, many of the inspiring images from the Bay State showed the strength of its people and the depth of their hearts.
Regular people ripped off shirts to make tourniquets, marathoners who had just crossed the finish line continued running to Mass. General Hospital to donate blood and, of course, enough cannot be said about the first responders.
Images made their way around the Internet of former New England Patriots offensive lineman Joe Andruzzi carrying an injured woman to a triage tent near the finish line. Just one of the countless heroes.
There is the notion that sports can help people heal. That just gathering together and cheering for the same thing can help a community. Wednesday night’s Bruins game served that purpose for Boston.
It was the first time that citizens had gathered in a large group since the attacks. Seventeen-thousand fans stood together to honor the fallen and show the cowards who bombed the marathon that they would not let fear win.
The crowd’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” was one of the most moving performances of the song I have ever or will ever see. The crowd in the TD Garden truly sounded like one voice.
Next year, I am willing to bet, will bring the largest turnout of both runners and spectators the Boston Marathon has ever seen. I hope that I can be among that group.
The people will run “Heartbreak Hill” and line Boylston Street to show the world that Boston and the United States don’t run from bullies.
We may never know why these brothers decided to hurt so many people but the goal was clear. They wanted to scare us and change our way of life. They failed.
Instead, they brought us closer together and showed us we are all Boston Strong.
hopey@mail.usf.edu
