It has been an overwhelming, scary, intense six days here in Boston. I don’t have any overarching conclusions about terrorism hitting a community I love. I do have a few random thoughts.
1. I had forgotten that horrible sense of threat and fear that lived in my heart and belly during 9/11. It forcefully comes back as if it never went away, especially since one of our daughters lives in the neighborhood that was bombed. She just happened to change plans for a late lunch near the finish line Monday and headed to the South End instead. I’m still living with the “what if” scenario in my head.
2. We unplugged and removed the TV almost a year ago. All of our news now comes through the internet. That demands lots of reading from different sources and hearing multiple points of view about these horrid events. I do appreciate not having to hear mindless talking heads fill space on the airwaves. It is, however, difficult to knit or quilt while reading, clicking and scrolling down page after page.
3. It’s hard to sleep with this turbulence. Lack of sleep makes coherent thinking and any kind of peace difficult to attain. It is far too easy to slip into the general malaise of sadness and anger.
4. Keeping in touch with my loved ones via phone, texting, IMing and extended conversations with my hubby are crucial.
5. I realize that I can’t change what bad people are going to do to others, but I can take a refresher First Aid course, so I can be more useful if I’m in any one of the awful situations we’ve seen in the past week.
6. Giving blood is something else I can do regularly. It’s a gift that keeps on giving. It puts my focus on “life” not fear.
7. I have a renewed appreciation and respect for the first responders, law enforcement, and hospital staff. I need to find a way to do something to show that appreciation.
8. A woman in line at a store here in Falmouth said she was going to increase the number of Random Acts of Kindness she performs daily—just to try to even the scales a bit. Not a bad idea.
Now it’s time to try to learn something from all this chaos, but also time to move on and to make the most of this gorgeous Sunday. We’re going to take a walk through Spohr’s Gardens and see all of the daffodils in bloom and then hit the bike path along the water. That’s what I need right now. Hope you and yours are safe, sound, and on the mend.
Spohr’s Gardens
Better than PeptoBismol
Fiddleheads
Yarnsista 
again thanks for sharing your thoughts. So glad this horrible incident did not take more lives, 3 was way too many.
love the flowers…..
Hi Jean, I wasn’t going to write about the bombing, but then realized that i just had to. I needed to put these thoughts on paper.
By the way, make sure you and Anne get to see Spohr’s Gardens before the daffodils lose their petals. It was gorgeous– and mid week, there will be no one else there!
d
“What if’s” work both ways; your daughter DID change her plans. But a quiet ‘thank you’ to God might be in order; he and I had lots of such chats when my son was in Iraq.
And a toast to those who ran to the sound of the guns and performed some awesome combat-first aid to those horrifically injured – may they always be with us.
Hi Andy- good point about the “What if’s” working both ways. I am going to give my girls an annoying amount of hugs when I see them next!
And I agree about the folks who ran towards danger to offer first aid to the injured. Because of you, I am going to take that refresher first aid class. I’m not sure I would have thought of it on my own.
d