My Heart is Heavy

My heart is heavy.  I grew up in Western Massachusetts, and only own Boston in a peripheral sort of way, but I own its sports, legend, and history deep in my heart.  The Boston Marathon http://www.baa.org/ is an icon in the world of sports. My heart is heavy at the terrorism attack that occurred at the finish line of the race on 4-15-13.

I am not sure what news source to site regarding what happened at the 2013 Boston Marathon, so I will go with The Boston Globe http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/04/16/some-areas-downtown-boston-reopen-today-boston-marathon-bombing-investigation-continues/qTROe6L0b98qRl9W7dnWiJ/story.html. 

I was at work when I Iearned of the bombings.  One of the security officers told me about it.  As I moved about the building, the staff were able to keep me posted of the latest results.  As I finished my patient rounds, I made my way to my office and turned on the radio.  When I do office work, I do not usually listen to the radio, but for this, I did.  Many of my coworkers, Monday and Tuesday, recalling my Massachusetts roots, expressed condolences, and asked about my family.  I think they really "got it" that the bombing was to be mourned, for its heinousness.

Monday, I went home after work, and after tending to chores, spent an evening watching the news. I was horrified, sickened, mortified, and hopeful.

The hopeful part of me was because of the stories of people who helped, runners who went to donate blood, restaurants that fed people for free, the many people who offered to help, to open their homes to people who were stranded.

Boston is a sports town. Monday was Patriot's Day, and part of the traditional celebration, in addition to the Boston Marathon, is the Red Sox home game at Fenway Park, early in the day.  So, it was finished by the time the bombs went off. The Red Sox were on the bus on the way to the airport before things shut down.  http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130416&content_id=44976856&vkey=news_bos&c_id=bos.  At their Tuesday game, they recognized the tragedy.

The Boston Bruins http://bruins.nhl.com/ Monday night home game was postponed, the Celtics http://www.nba.com/celtics/?SR=SearchNBA_GXUS__NBA.com_Boston_Celtics home game on Tuesday was postponed http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2013/04/15/security-at-sports-venues-after-boston-blast/2085755/

Tuesday, many baseball teams offered a solidarity tribute to Boston by playing "Sweet Caroline" the Fenway Park "anthem."  This includes the New York Yankees ttp://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=26326395&topic_id=8878548&c_id=nyy. Neil Diamond responded with acknowledgements:  https://twitter.com/NeilDiamond. 

Tuesday, there was a vigil on the Boston Common. Three people were killed, hundreds were injured. They were recognized at the vigil. 

So, I have focused on the sports aspect of this tragedy.  It is a defense.  And because the tragedy occurred at a sports event, and little else was known.

April 15th is celebrated as Patriot's Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriots'_Day.  There are some thoughts that the bombings were making a statement about Patriot's Day.  But, as far as I have heard tonight, no one has come forward to claim this.

I cannot imagine the devastation and destruction caused by these bombings.  President Obama addressed this and the resources devoted to try to find the answers about these bombings http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57579706/obama-on-boston-bombings-we-will-find-out-who-did-this/

The  devastation and destruction is the kind that occurs at war.  Is the United States at war?  We have troops throughout the world, and many are engaged in combat of some sort. But no warring faction has claimed responsibility for these bombings.

I do not know what to think about the perpetrators of this attack. I have to wonder why, and what statement they wanted to make. I have to wonder if they were trying to save someone, including themselves. But, it seems, more likely, they were protesting something, but have not enunciated their cause.

What human tragedy this is.  It is senseless and useless.  What ever it was intended to do, it unified and solidified the community spirit of Boston.