So Facebook has this feature that lets you look back at what you posted on this date in years past. My birthday is in April, Easter is sometimes in April, the Boston Marathon is in April, and taxes are due in April. It's a pretty busy month. Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing, so Facebook showed me a glimpse of how our day went, those two years ago. I still remember how bright the sun was shining, our incredible parking karma as we found a spot in Brookline Village just up from the T stop, how we ran into friends from church who were hopping the T out of the city to go cheer on a loved one who was running the race, the excitement of standing at Kenmore Square as the wheelchair racers flew past us, a gorgeous and perfect day for baseball (even if - as my post indicates - I thought Evan Longoria was being a jerkwad) and a gorgeous and perfect day for being in Boston. There's a picture on my phone of my husband and I standing in Yawkey Way, grinning like the fool Sox fans we are. After the game, we headed back to Brookline to cheer on more marathoners as they passed. And then, there was a bizarre change in the behavior of the policemen working the marathon lines. Phones started to beep and boop with text messages. And then so many phones were ringing it became impossible to get through to anyone. Our little group went back to the house and watched the news in horror, everyone furiously texting to try and grab a little bit of network to reach our loved ones and friends. The next 36 hours are a blur. We made it back to our apartment, cuddled the dog, and stayed glued to the television for the days to come. What had happened, who did it, who was injured, who was not injured, where were you when it happened?
I'm writing this post as our baby girl is waking up from her nap, so I don't have unlimited time to wax poetic about the shortness of life and the importance of living every day and letting go of the BS.
Since she was born, I've turned 35 - I still plan to sing Lulu and run another marathon and go on a real vacation and visit a new country in the years before I turn 40 - but there was no time to make the exhaustive list of 'things I want to do in these years' because life with a child is immediate. I miss Boston and I miss our people there, but my life is here and my life is now. And since baby girl is the child of an opera singer, she's making her needs known at high volume.
Boston Strong. Today and every day.
