It is a beautiful time of year in Ojai. I just drove back from a dinner in town with my advisees and we could smell the orange blossoms from Grand Ave. all the way up to campus. It can be very easy to be removed from world events while living in this bucolic setting. However, the recent events in Boston really hit home for me on a number of levels. First of all, I am originally from Massachusetts (Go Sox!) and I maintain fond memories of celebrating Patriots’ Day. Secondly, the iconic event that is the Boston Marathon is special to me as well. I’ve completed Boston a number of times and had many friends and training partners competing in this year’s race. However, what really struck me is a personal connection to one of the people injured in the bombings. The husband of an old and dear friend is recovering at Mass General Hospital from injuries that he sustained during the attack in Boston on Patriots’ Day. My friend, Sarah, posted that John was injured, in good hands, but had a long road ahead of him. Sarah later posted that she and her children were going to see John in the hospital. It appeared as if John’s injuries were minor from reading Sarah’s periodic posts. However, her most recent update was “John is out of icu- another surgery today but things are looking good. Kids are good and back at school.” ICU! This is more serious than I thought! I eagerly awaited Sarah’s next post and it contained good news about John’s prognosis along with this quote from Mahatma Gandhi, “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” I am impressed with Sarah’s resilience and, most of all, her maintenance of a positive outlook. She is strong, Boston strong.

 

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