I Am Also Grateful

In the aftermath of the Boston marathon bombings I am angry. I am sad. And I am scared. These are the feelings those who attacked want me to feel.  And as much as I’d like to deny them the satisfaction of tapping into our vulnerabilities, I cannot.I am all of those things – angry, sad and scared, but I am also grateful.

• I am grateful for the heroes, in and out of uniform, who risked safety to help those who were injured and scared.

• I am grateful for the medical expertise which saved limbs and lives.

• I am grateful for the technology that let us connect quickly across the city, across the state and across the world to bind our community together.

• I am grateful for the disaster plans we had in place to secure our environment.

• I am grateful for all those runners who may not have crossed the finish line, but who survived.

• I am grateful for the American flags I see lining the streets this morning. Today we are not democrats or republicans. We are not Muslims, Christians or Jews  -  we are Bostonians and we stand together.

• I am grateful for the Patriots Day memories of the morning where we laughed together side by side celebrating our heroes past and present.

• I am grateful for the messages, prayers and support of friends, family and acquaintances near and far who have reached out.

So yes. I am angry. I am scared. And I am sad. But I am also strong, grateful and proud. The attackers can’t take away my ability to choose and I choose to feed these feelings.With this choice I take away any victory the attackers could celebrate because being cherished, being strong and being proud outweigh anger and fear any day, any where.