This week has been one of many emotions and I am not really sure that I am done sorting them all out. As you know, I went to Boston to run the marathon last weekend. My whole family was there. My friends were there. Their families were there.
I crossed the finish line at 1:46 pm. My phone had died about halfway through the race, so I slowly made my way to the family meeting area, which is about a block away from the finish line. I waited there for about a half an hour until they came, when we then went a few blocks away to find some food. We were just sitting down when the waiter turned on the TV and told us that there had just been an explosion at the finish line of the marathon.
As we sat there, aghast at what we were seeing, several ambulances, fire trucks and police went by on the street outside our restaurant. As we watched them go by, one after the other, we could only imagine how bad it was, as we also hoped it wasn't as bad as it seemed.
The first thing I thought of were my friends, some of who were behind me in the race, several others who were spectating and finally, members of their families that we knew would be reaching the finish right around this time. I charged up my phone and when it finally came to life, I was trying so hard to find out if my friends had made it out of the area safely, that I almost didn't notice all the messages from everyone trying to find out about me.
It was bittersweet. The first messages shouted congratulations; the later ones voiced concern.
My running friends made it over the finish line and out of the area in time. My spectating friends are okay, although one of them was right at mile 26 and not only saw the blast but had a very stressful time trying to find her brother, who hadn't finished the race yet (he made it to mile 25). A few people I know did not get a chance to finish the race.
My heart goes out to those who were in the area, who were wounded, who were witness to or who had to experience such a horror. I get emotional when I see the bravery of the folks who rushed to their aid. I feel sorrow and pain for those who did not get to finish the race when they worked so hard for this day. My emotions are still near the surface and I am not really sure I can articulate clearly how I feel about the experience as a whole.
Thanks to everyone out there who sent texts, Facebook posts and emails and made phone calls to find out if I was okay. I am so touched by all the concern that was shown to me.
Where were you when you heard about the incident? Have you ever been really close to an highly emotional event?