There is one particular day/event that I probably will never forget the details of because it was one of the most emotional days I've ever experienced.
If you've read our blog from day one, then you may already know what I am about to say, but considering what time of year it is, I thought it was worth resurfacing.
America was certainly shocked when they heard the news of
the Boston Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013.
I cried. My sister was there running.
The day I found out
that my sister was going to be running in the Boston Marathon, I promptly got
online and starting asking advice about hotels. My sister got her notice that
she would be able to run the marathon only a few weeks before, so we didn’t exactly
have a lot of time to prepare. Either myself or someone in my family (usually
my mom) has been to every one of her races and I wasn’t about to miss what
could potentially be the biggest race of her life. So I booked two nights at a
hotel in Boston. I spent the rest of the week deciphering how I was going to
get to all the weekend events (while using public transportation). What train
would I use to get to the expo? How would I meet her at the pasta party? Which
train was running on race day? How early would I have to leave the hotel? Would
I get lost? How would I meet up with her after the race? Would I be okay driving the 380 miles to
Massachusetts all by myself? I was starting to feel anxiety. This was not like
watching a race in Disney, or VA Beach (where she usually runs). I had never
been to Boston. This was an unfamiliar city to me and I felt like I didn’t have
enough time to do all the research I needed to feel comfortable navigating
myself around. After finding out that the train I would need (I think it was
part of the green line) would not be operating on race day, I decided I
couldn’t do this. I cancelled the hotel at the last minute. I felt confident
that my sister would be okay. She would be meeting up with some race friends
and she could stay with them. They would make sure she got to where she needed
to be, and quite frankly I thought that I may just be a burden to her as I
tagged along. I didn’t want her to have to worry about me.
I can’t believe that
one split second decision could have potentially saved my life. Watching my
sister race is a big deal to me and I always luck out and get a great spot near
the finish line to watch her. I don’t know that I would have been in danger,
but I know for a fact that I would have been on Boylston Street and I would
have been near the finish line holding my sign for her!
So with blinds pulled
open, the sun shining in, and a yellow Labrador sitting on my lap, I watched
the race on TV that April afternoon. I watched what little coverage they
provided on the Universal Sports channel ( after the elite runners finish, they
don’t show the average runners, so I turned it off and went about my business)
I got the automatic text saying that my sister Lacey crossed the finish line
(in many races, you can sign up for runner tracking. Each runner wears a tracking chip on their
bib. As they cross the finish line it sends a text to your phone giving you the
time they finished). She didn’t
actually text me herself, but I knew she had finished. I did text her phone
saying “Congrats! You even beat your Disney World marathon time!” I then got a
call from a number I didn’t recognize. It was Lacey. She said she just wanted
to tell me she was ok. I could tell by
her voice that something was very wrong. I said “what?” I had no idea what she
was talking about at the time. She then told me about the explosion at the
finish line; it was bad, people had lost limbs, and people died. I just started
crying and then turned on the TV to see what was going on. I continued to cry. I then had to call my mom at work and tell her what had happened before she saw it on the news and started panicking herself. Even though I told her my sister was okay, I could tell that my mom was an emotional mess. And my dad, well, it was the first day of trout season so he was off fishing and had no clue what was happening.
I was scared for my
sister. I am extremely grateful that she crossed the finish line when she did.
Only by the help of God she was able to exceed her expected finish time. She
crossed exactly six minutes before the first explosion. She had just got her
medal and was in line getting Gatorade and water when it happened.
I was SO Glad that my
sister was okay, but I could have potentially loss my sister the same day I
loss my grandma ( she died April 15 exactly 5 years ago to the day). During all this, our
home phone started ringing off the hook with people calling to see if Lacey was
running and if she was okay.
From my brief
conversation with my sister, I knew she was going straight to the airport (or
at least going to try to get there) I was now concerned about her safety even
at the airport. My heart was breaking for her as she had to experience all this
and to everyone else that was there and of course to all the victims and their
family.
My sister has a
stressful enough job as a flight attendant and has to worry about this kind of
situation affecting her safety on a daily basis. But now it is affecting the
thing she loves to do for fun, running! What is this world coming to?
She finally did make
it home on a very late flight Monday night. As I waited in the airport with flowers and balloons for my
sister, an older lady asked what the occasion was and with a teary eye, I told
her that I was just happy that my sister was alive and that she made it home
safely from the Boston Marathon. She then told her friends, who then told their
husbands. So by the time Lacey entered the terminal even complete strangers
were clapping for her and hugging her. It was quite an emotional night!
Thirteen days later, Lacey flew to California to complete
the second half of the Boston to Big Sur Challenge. Two races, Two Coast, thirteen days apart. I was even more frightened for her safety there. I had visions of something going wrong on that big bridge. Thank goodness everything turned out okay. Although she has no desire to run the Boston
Marathon again anytime soon, Lacey continued to run 6 more marathons. Her 7th
will be the Big Sur Marathon later this month.
If you'd like to read Lacey's Boston marathon recap from race day, you can read it HERE.
Do you ever go back and re-read memories from your blog? Will you be watching the Boston marathon on TV this year?