{Living In the Moment...April}

This month I'm taking a little turn with my LITM post.  Typically I post little moments of our lives that I don't want to forget.  The details.  The everyday.  The normal.  In this month's post I have moments I don't want to forget.  I have details.  However, these moments are not everyday.  They are not normal.  At least for our part of the world.

This month I am sharing the pictures that I took of the Makeshift Memorial at the Boston Marathon finish line.  I will let the pictures do the talking but I do want to explain a bit of the feeling.  Sure there is plenty of feeling in these but I'm talking about the feeling while standing there next to hundreds of strangers looking at the memorial.

As we approached the area everything was blocked off.   And unexpectedly everything was untouched to how it was left on Monday.  There was trash everywhere in the buffer zone.  Everything needed to be left exactly as is for evidence.  There were blocks and blocks of "crime scene".  It was very eerie to say the least.  And once we got to the spot where the main memorial was there was silence.  Sure there were people talking but it wasn't the normal sound level of the city.  People were crying, hugging each other, standing and staring, standing with their eyes closed, taking pictures and just feeling.

There were two veteran volunteers manning the memorial while we were there.  I wrote a post about the man with the dog here.  They had people hang flags and assisted them in finding a spot for the items that they brought.  There was a little boy there that brought up a flower and then got some love from the man's dog.  It was innocent and sweet and just the kind of moment that we all needed.

I have a lot pictures this month.  Please forgive me.  Also please check out Melissa's LITM post this month.

{Boston Marathon Makeshift Memorial}

Lisa and I went to Boston yesterday.  I've had a yearning to go all week.  We headed up to see the makeshift Memorial that's been put up and to get cupcakes from the newly opened Georgetown Cupake Newbury.  It was incredibly moving to be standing there looking at the Memorial.  I will blog more about it this week.  I also have more pictures.

For now I want to leave you with what I found googling information about the Memorial.  This article is about the man on the left with the dog.  These two men were kind of "the keepers" of the memorial.  They were helping people figure out where to put the things that they brought. 

Lisa and I were wondering who they were.  What their story was.  What I found out was even more amazing than I could have imagined.  Please read the following article and the story of Ed Starbuck, the man with the dog at the Marathon Memorial.

The barricade separating the rest of Boylston Street from the active crime scene that was the Boston Marathon's finish line has become a shrine. Ed Starbuck has become its "unofficial manager." As people step across the velvet ropes to lay a bouquet or write a message on one of the cards laid out in the street, Starbuck's 5-year-old beagle, Rosie, thanks them with a lick or a nuzzle.

"A couple of days ago, I was on the couch and getting mad like everybody else," the 57-year-old retiree in the red-white-and-blue windbreaker said as a stiff breeze tugged at the flags he has fastened along the metal gates. "And I decided to come and volunteer at the memorial."

Each day since Monday's bombings, Starbuck boards a bus from his home in Hyannis on Cape Cod for the hour-and-a-half ride. During one of his trips, he sewed together a string of small American flags to hang beside a collection that now stretches the width of Boylston and includes the iconic "Don't Tread on Me" banner with the snake.

The barricade runs along fashionable Berkeley Street. Starbuck sat on a plastic milk crate at one end, beside three white crosses erected in memory of those who died in the twin blasts. A pair of running shoes and a marathon medal with its unicorn symbol hung from the barrier behind him, and a string of brightly colored Buddhist prayer flags flapped in the breeze in front of the gathered crowd.

Thursday afternoon, two members of the Massachusetts National Guard's 747th Military Police Company, in fatigues and black bullet-proof vests, laid a unit and American flag patches on the sidewalk in front of Starbuck.

"Thank you," he said to the men, one of whom had a tear clinging to the end of his nose. "You guys are doing a great job," he said of the troops who have been helping patrol the city.

Others take turns volunteering at the barricade. But Starbuck is perhaps the most faithful, arriving home at 2 a.m. Thursday, then turning around and coming back on the morning bus that arrived just before noon.
Starbuck says he's been a sailor, computer operator, landscaper, carpenter and painter over the years. He says he was in an accident that cost him his left eye and most of his hearing, but he won't elaborate. He says he recovered from a bout of post-traumatic stress disorder.

He says manning the memorial is therapeutic.

"It makes me feel a lot better," he says. "The interactions I have with people are really incredible."
Starbuck describes himself as a Libertarian who thinks some of the gun proposals that recently came before Congress went a bit too far. But he shudders at the notion that the bombings might have had something to do with that debate.

"I cherish the values that we have, and I would hate to think of somebody that was born and brought up here and didn't get it — didn't get what America's about," he said. "I mean, part of the strength of democracy is we know what people think. And if there's a problem, the proper authorities take care of it."
Seeing the outpouring of grief and support at the barricade reassures Starbuck that things will be OK.
"When we get into these situations is when we pull together," he says. "And I think this is a reminder that we're all Americans, no matter what political bent we have. And our strength comes from diversity, And we'll get through this."

Except for the bus schedules, Starbuck says "time doesn't exist" for now. He says he will stay and volunteer "as long as it takes."

I found this in various newpapers.  I'm not sure where it originate but it is written by the following.
By ALLEN G. BREED
Associated Press

Friday, April 19, 2013

{Boston}

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard about the terror that has fallen on Boston this past week.  Las night, the terror was brought to an end and the manhunt was over.  While I live in MA, I do not live in Boston.  I live about 45 minutes away.  That doesn't stop me from thinking of myself as a Bostonian.  I'm sure everyone who lives in MA feels the same way. 

My father was born in Dorchester.  My Nana moved all of them out of the City to the suburb of Marshfield.  I do still have family that lives in South Boston.  Going to "Southie" to watch the St. Patrick's Day parade was one of my favorite traditions as a child.  Now, going to Boston every October with Lisa and friends for the annual Ghost Tour is one of my favorite days of the year.

I love being in the City and have always had a yearning to live there.  If it weren't for the kids, I would have definitely moved there long ago.  I love the hustle and bustle.  I love the beauty.  The architecture in Boston is amazing to me.  I remember driving through the City and wishing my eyes were cameras that could capture all the beauty. 

Last night while at work we heard of the infamous boat.  Immediately my eyes were peeled to Twitter.  If you weren't on Twitter throughout this ordeal, you missed out.  Everything on Twitter was a good two minutes faster than any news source.  Twitter is an amazing community and that became clear over this past week. 

I also listened to the Police scanner for most of yesterday.  I know right?  I always make fun of John and Lisa for their love of the scanner.  But over this past week, it proved to be awesome.  There's something eerie about hearing it all happen in first person.  With that said, "He's in custody" were some of the best words I've ever heard.  Relief swept over me.  I wept.   

In the wake of this week and especially last night, I found some truly awesome pics via Instagram.  I don't know if these are the original sources, but I will give credit via the person I found the pic from.

{Via teensknowbest on Instagram}

This is one of my favorites. I need to contact this person about getting a print if it was in fact made by them.

{Via iengelberg on Instagram}

{Via livslove on Instagram}

{Via tquinn928 and ???? on Instagram}

This one is just so very awesome. Lyrics from Can't Hold Us by Macklemore.

{Via elenamichellee on Instagram}

This right here. History. Awesome. Goosebumpy.

{Via @Boston_Police on Twitter}

{This was everywhere. If anyone knows the original origin, please let me know}

This. OMG. SWAT teams fist pumping in success after the capture.

{Via jimperial77 on Instagram}

So very powerful.

{Via emikoorose on Instagram}

And then, the city went out and celebrated. How I wish I could have been there last night celebrating with everyone.

{Via cyrusvj, wyatt_lilmonstr, megan_tucker20 and barrettgupster on Instagram}

And of course, there was some humor.

{Via jtquack and mickey0025 on Instagram}

And finally...

{Via annaeherman on Instagram}

I've always been proud to be an American.  I've never been prouder to be from Boston.  -Me {4/19/2013 at 9:16 PM}