My husband has run through the
streets of Boston as a marathoner, and my family walked the Freedom Trail, a
faded, red-brick line leading us through an incredible time in American
history.
Visiting Boston on Patriots' Day, a
holiday that celebrates the beginnings of the Revolutionary War, was
extraordinary. Walking the Freedom Trail and reading about the significance of
each stop heightened our appreciation of what the founders of this country
battled to ensure our freedom.
We stood in front of the Old State
House where the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time, and
tears formed as I imagined what people must've thought to hear those
revolutionary words for the first time.
In front of the Old North Church, we
strained our necks to look up at the steeple, imagining what Paul Revere felt
like as he watched for the signal to see if the British were coming to start a
war.
I was reminded of Revere's vigilance
when some vile piece of human garbage planted two bombs along the Boston
Marathon race route this week, killing and maiming innocent people, including
8-year-old Martin Richard, a child looking forward to playing Little League
baseball this spring, and 29-year-old Krystle Campbell who was "daddy's
little girl."
The "why" question is on
everyone's minds – why someone felt they needed to kill innocent bystanders to
make a point or how they rationalized they were accomplishing some grandiose
goal by killing parade bystanders.
Dozens of columns have been written
about the attacks, some quite eloquent like Patton Oswalt's Facebook posting reminding
us that good people will always outnumber the bad.
Others are pointing fingers while
others want to cancel every public event for fear that something like this
could happen again.
I can't blame them, but we have to
step back into life. It must've been frightening to be the first one on an American
Airlines flight out of New York City after 9/11, but people did it. And Just
like we did after Sept. 11, 2001, we will find the strength to go back to our
daily lives.
But we've been scarred. People are
no longer cavalier about big crowds. They no longer believe they are safe in
their own backyards.
We let our guard down at the
marathon, naively thinking malcontents wouldn't hurt innocent people who were simply
standing on a street corner, waiting for their loved ones to cross the finish
line in a race they'd dreamed of completing for years.
That line is a magical spot where runners
congratulate the winner. Athletes respect those who take five or six grueling hours
to complete the course, refusing to give up until they cross that finish line.
And that's what it'll take to beat
these cowards. We cannot give up because they surprised us. We cannot give up
because we're scared they might retaliate and curtail some of our personal
freedoms.
We're Americans.
We do not give up.
We do not allow a faceless, nameless
enemy to bully us into cancelling events like marathons or airline flights or
movie openings. We pull the wagons closer and renew our vow to stay vigilant, just
as Paul Revere did watching for the lanterns in the steeple of the North
Church.
One if by land. Two if by sea.
No matter how they come, America will
remain standing.
This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.
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