Jason was scheduled to work 9 am - 9 pm. He manages the restaurants at The Lenox Hotel, which is about 10 feet from the finish line on Boylston Street. It is their busiest day of the year - New Balance rents out Solas, the bar there, and the whole place is filled all day with runners, cheerleaders, press, etc. So Ashton and I were on our own. We briefly considered going downtown to visit him in the morning but I didn't want to deal with parking and all that. So Chera and I decided to take the boys to over to Commonwealth Avenue in Newton (mile 18 or so) to try and see some runners there. I drove over to her house and we took Ashton and Owen for a walk around the block first. They held hands.
Based on the start time, I estimated that maybe the first ones would come through around 11 am. We got there about 11:12 am, and literally two minutes later the motorcycles and truck that said WOMENS LEAD came through with lights flashing. Talk about perfect timing! It was so exciting - the lead women's runner came through and perhaps 15 minutes later, the lead man. As you can imagine, not long after that, the runners began to increase in number and were a mix of men and women until the road was filled.
At one point, a woman hastily stepped between us and in a blink, a runner flashed by and took a PB&J right out of her hand. It was her son - she was triumphant and said, "YESSS!" Chera and I were like Wow that is so cool! That we just saw her be successful in being at the exact spot at the exact time in order to hand it off. He looked back, smiled at her, raised the sandwich and kept going.
There was a line of servicemen in full fatigues carrying heavy backpacks. They were walking the route from Hopkinton to Boston as part of their training, drenched in sweat and one was clearly struggling with blisters or some other kind of foot pain. We proudly clapped for them.
We also saw two runners tethered together as one was blind and the other was his guide. There was a handicapped woman in a wheelchair that a runner was pushing - he pushed her the entire way. They were later on the news as crossing the finish line when the first bomb went off.
In general, it was an inspiring day, watching all these people conquer this physical and mental challenge of running 26.2 miles, most in the name of a charity or fundraising effort. A local drumming group set up and here is the general vibe where we were amidst cheers and clapping:
And some other pics:
We left around 12:30 pm to get home for lunch and naps. It was a beautiful day.
A little after 3 pm Chera texted me - the house was quiet because Ashton was asleep and I was putting laundry away. "OMG - is Jason ok? There were explosions at the finish line!" I did not have the TV on and was upstairs so I tried to pull up Boston.com on my phone. The next instant I got a text from Jason: "I'm ok." I still didn't know what was happening. And then it was a flurry of activity. Ashton woke up, I turned on the news, and started to get a barrage of texts from everyone who wanted to know if Jason was at work, if he was ok, etc. He tried to call me but got cut off - cell service in Boston was shut down.
I heard from him again at 3:45 pm - he called from work. He said the bomb squads came in and made everyone turn off their cell phones or they would be confiscated. They were worried the bombs were being remote detonated and there could be more. The hotel was on lock-down. He said he would call again when he could.
For about 45 minutes I paced in front of the TV, trying to manage all the calls and texts coming. Even my brother facetimed me from Sweden! It was crazy. Jason called again, on a phone with about 1% battery life, and said they had evacuated the hotel, he was going to try and get his car out of the garage and get home. I was glued to the news, my heart was in my throat. I was so afraid that they would all of a sudden announce a third bomb had gone off. I held my breath until about 5 pm when I heard his car. I just ran outside and threw my arms around him. The first bomb went off right across the street from his hotel, he said it was an extremely loud boom, like someone had dropped something super heavy on the floor above him and shook the whole building. I was so grateful he was home. This is the picture I took to send to his mom to show her he was safe and sound:
What a day. Jason was supposed to be off today but when they evacuated the hotel, they went floor by floor and everything was immediate. Guests still have their belongings in the hotel rooms and literally all the lights are on, the beers, food, unpaid checks are still sitting on the tables. Ghost town. So he is there now to help clean up and try to get things back to normal. I'll be anxious to hear his stories when he gets home tonight.
I have obviously read many other accounts and we continued to watch the news all night last night, mostly in silence. A lot of close calls, people who finished 3 minutes before the first explosion, tearful reunions. This was an incredibly sad day in Boston. But I can't help but think - this is what the streets are like every day in other parts of the world. The violence and bloodshed in these far off places are accompanied by men with guns, perpetual fear, and much, much bigger bombs. What must that be like?
Jason came home to me. Runners met up with their families and the wounded received immediate medical attention. It seems inappropriate to say "We are lucky", but we are. Americans are strong and full of heart - we will honor the victims and our spirits will heal. This was an event that will strengthen our bond and for me, has been an important reminder to be thankful that this is not daily life for my son:
You'll see, in the upper left hand corner, black window awnings. That is Jason's hotel. The explosion in the background is the second bomb as the smoke dissipates from the first in the foreground.
Courage and love to all the runners and everyone who was impacted by yesterday's tragedy. Of course we all were, but some much more than others, including my husband.
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