Hi there 🙂

So since today is the Redsox home opener, I thought I would make a blog about good ol’ Beantown. This city man, NOTHING can bring it down.

As we all know, the next Boston Marathon is fast approaching. It’s important to take a moment and remember what our city went through last April. The 2013 Boston Marathon bombings shocked the nation, even other parts of the world were in awe. It’s an international event, a time when people from all over the world can come together to do one simple thing, run. Everyone has a different story as to why they do it, but what matters most is that it brings people together. It’s safe to say this incident brought Boston together more than ever.

I live ten minutes north of Boston in a little town called Saugus. I can see the incredible skyline from my back porch. In high school, my friends and I would always take trips to Boston to walk down Boylston Street, window shop, etc. We always used to stop at this little candy store called Sugar Heaven. It’s a hole-in-the-wall candy store with just about every candy a little kid could ask for. They even have a downstairs section, filled with more candy of course. My point to this little personal insight? I met someone here at UML this past summer. Got to know her pretty well, and soon learned about her love for Boston. The city, the sports teams, everything. We went to Boston one day last fall, and she told me she wanted to visit the bombing site. She was at the marathon, luckily far enough away from the devastation that she wasn’t injured at all. But as soon as we came up on one of the sites (what then was just a giant construction area), I saw it. Sugar Heaven was literally right next to one of the bombing sites. Now I’m not very good with directions and addresses when it comes to the big city, so the shock literally almost brought me to tears. I had no idea a place I used to go to so many times was right next to where tragedy struck. I never put two and two together. A really bad feeling came over me that day. I was mad that it happened even though months had already passed. I didn’t know anyone involved, but it still hurt to know it all happened in a city that has brought so much life to where I grew up.

This April, the city of Boston will come back with avengance. The next Boston Marathon will happen, and the city will be stronger than ever. If you’re from the Boston area, you obviously know what I’m talking about. We are people you do not want to mess with, especially when it comes to big events in Beantown. I know this is Lowell, and you might be thinking “but we’re not even near Boston..”. It does not matter where you are from, the bombings affected everyone in some way. If you’re not a Boston native, I suggest you go check it out. The city has so much to offer! It only takes a day of being in Boston to realize just what a tight-knit city it is. There’s a place for everyone. My place (other than Sugar Heaven) happens to be the North End. My grandparents grew up there, and hands down, there is NO better place to get pizza and cannolis. So my little blog moral for today is to go to Boston. I don’t care when you go, or what you do when you get there. Just go. It’s an experience nonetheless. And remember to show your support at this year’s Boston Marathon.

Have a great weekend everyone. You deserve it.
-Rach